First day of summer

"Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....

Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape

Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood."

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

June 21st at 6:51 a.m. EDT, is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, which marks the beginning of summer. On Saturday morning, the Earth will be positioned so that the sun shines directly on the Tropic of Cancer, 23.5 degrees north of the equator.  Meanwhile, the Southern Hemisphere will be tilted away from the sun, so people there will experience the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year. The opposite will happen in December, when the sun will shine directly on the Tropic of Capricorn, when Southern Hemisphere experiences its summer solstice, while the Northern Hemisphere experiences its winter solstice.

Here in Sherwood, WI (Latitude, Longitude: 44 10.4' N, 88 16.5' W), the longest day of the year will be 15 hours and 31 minutes from the sunrise at 5:09 AM until the sunset at 8:40 PM.  The length of visible light will be 16 hours and 43 minutes from 4:32 AM until 9:16 PM.