Overview
- The solstice occurred at 04:42 UTC on June 21, officially inaugurating astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
- In Italy the Sun rose at 05:36 and set at 20:51, providing 15 hours and 15 minutes of uninterrupted daylight.
- Earth’s 23.5° axial tilt placed the Sun at its northernmost point above the celestial equator before it began its southward return.
- Just before dawn on June 22, skywatchers can view a waning crescent Moon alongside Venus in the Aries constellation.
- The Unione Astrofili Italiani’s ‘Welcome Summer! Sun Day’ program includes a 13:13 ceremony in Ravenna replicating Eratosthenes’s third-century method of measuring Earth by a sundial’s shadow.