The 2022 Summer Solstice falls on June 21st in the Northern Hemisphere, marking the longest day of sunlight and the official start of the summer season!  So, break out your sunscreen and your Swell Vision sunglasses and head outside for some vitamin D!

Also known as the Estival Solstice, this event happens when the sun reaches its highest and northern most point in the sky.  According to astronomical principles, the North Pole is tilted towards the Sun at it's most extreme angle and is above the Tropic of Cancer.  

Fun Fact #1:Because of the Earth's tilted axis, the sun doesn't rise and set at the same location on the horizon. The rising and setting positions move northward or southward in the sky as the Earth travels around the sun throughout the year.

Fun Fact #2:   Stonehenge, in Amesbury, Wiltshire, is a wonderous place to celebrate this event because it aligns to the solstices. The rising sun only reaches the middle of the stones one day of the year when it shines on the central altar marking midsummer.  In ancient times, Midsummer's eve was believed to be a time when the veil between this world and the next was at its thinnest, thus holding special powers!

Fun Fact #3:  Because the Sun is highest in the sky on this day, you’ll notice that your shadow (at local, or solar, noon, not clock-time noon) is the shortest that it will be all year. [Local noon is when the Sun crosses the local meridian (an imaginary line between the North and South poles) and is highest in the sky for the day.]

From all of us @swellvision....Have a SWELL summer!!