Today (June 20, 2020), is the longest day of the year

For those who have been following the weather (especially children who play a lot, adults who fast, and Muslims who pray around 7 in the evening), you may have noticed that dusk comes much later, and lasts for longer.

(Dusk is the period of brief daylight after the sun has set. It marks the boundary between evening and night.)

Everywhere becomes dark around 7:30 pm or even much later, instead of around a few minutes to seven as it used to be in the past (at least, here in Lagos).

This is happening because we are close to the summer solstice, and in fact, today, June 20, 2020, is the summer solstice.


What does Summer Solstice mean?

As you should know, the earth revolves around the sun. However, the earth is not completely round and neither is its orbit round the sun.

The earth’s orbit is elliptical, which makes the distance between the earth and the sun vary throughout the year.

The earth itself is a bit flat at the north and south poles, which makes its side bulge out like a balloon that is about to burst.

The result is that, once a year, the earth positions itself such that the sun appears at its highest position in the sky in the northern part of the earth.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/11770370_seasonsearthorbitlarge_jpege2f41ba12e676f12b7278da9ea47baa1
The summer solstice is on the left.

That day is called the Summer Solstice and is usually between June 20 and 22 every year.

However, that moment in 2020 falls on 5:44 pm EDT on June 20 (today). For us in Nigeria, that is 10:44 pm WAT (West African Time).


What happens on the Summer Solstice?

The summer solstice is always the longest day and shortest night of the year. This means we will enjoy more daylight today than on any other day of the year.

People living at the northernmost and southernmost parts of the earth will even enjoy 24 hours of sunlight throughout the day.

The summer solstice also marks the beginning of the summer season in the northern hemisphere (the northern half of the earth).

However, the reverse will happen in the southern hemisphere (the southern half of the earth) where the sun will be at its lowest point, making the summer solstice the beginning of the winter season in the Southern hemisphere.


What about the solar eclipse?

Lucky for us, this year’s solstice will coincide with a very rare solstice solar eclipse that will last from 4:45 am to 9:34 am on June 21. (The next solstice solar eclipse will only come around on June 21, 2039.)

www.nairaland.com/attachments/11770369_download_pngc26be60cfd1ba40772b5ac48b95ab19b
The eclipse will look like the photo above. That is the moon covering the sun with the thin "ring of fire" line visible.

Tomorrow’s eclipse will be visible from some parts of Africa and Asia.

People living in Congo, Ethiopia, and China will see the eclipse, and so will people living in northern India, southern Pakistan, and the Central African Republic.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/11770368_screenshot3_jpeg96647f10afbbedde0709206e8c8ff91a
The eclipse will be most visible in the area that is orange in color.

Unfortunately, it appears that it will not be visible from Nigeria.


Source: I wrote this myself with reference from https://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-summer-summer-solstice and https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2020-june-21

Photos added.

Lalasticlala, could you help me push this to the front page. Let's educate the people around here. Thank you.

No be 24 hours make 1 day again :-
7 days make 1 week ??

*Make you no just mention me because I no go talk to you

I noticed today is a bit long really.
I wish the eclipse will be visible here too, I have witnessed two different eclipse.

... it's still thesame timing

And this year is the longest year of the 21st Century and 3rd Millennium.

YEAR 2020 SO FAR
Solar Eclipse, Leap year, Twin year, rumoured for World War III, CoronaVirus pandemic, strange deaths of celebrities/top guys, massive deaths worldwide, worldwide lockdown, impeachment trial for Donald Trump, funny Liverpool EPL coincidence, invincible Hushpuppi finally arrested, SpaceX's first astronaut launch, UK finally pulled out of EU, and many other events.
Abule-Ado explosion, Akure explosion, Edo explosion, Fire outbreaks. The list goes on

And now, a Solar Eclipse wanna wrap up the first half of the year.
Brace yourselves folks, it's just six months gone, more actions coming in the second half.
The name of the movie is 2020, and it's action packed.

Okay, we are waiting

Tomorrow is here

Nice

Yes I said it

Lilimax:
No be 24 hours make 1 day again

It means the sun will shine more than darkness for the most part of the day. The sun would set later than it's normal hour.

Interesting...

who gives a shìt?

You're right, I noticed it

F

The night of Khana

The bright star shall go off in the blood of the first son of Kisha

better Saturday than a Monday!

Oyibo keeps playing with us to stay relevant @ all means... Maybe, 24 hours is not enough for a day ni... mtcheew

How long o

Long ke... The rain ate more than half the day

Nothing special about today...today was more faster than previous days self.

Lol... Something that today was very short.. It was dark around 6 already.
So how come it's the longest

Thanks

[s]

Staphylococcus:
The night of Khana

The bright star shall go off in the blood of the first son of Kisha

[/s]
trash

Okay.


This one doesn't concern believers of a STORY BOOK, who thinks that:

the earth is flat like a disc

the moon has its own light

stars can fall to the ground

the sun revolves around the earth

Adam and Eve were created around 6000 years ago

a man who was charged with the crime of blasphemy and sedition and was KILLED on a cross died for their sins....