In outer space millions of orbs, stars, forces and interactions intermingle to produce the most amazing phenomena. Some of them happen so close to us that we are able to watch them from Earth. And many even directly involve the planet, so the enthusiasm becomes even greater. These days there has been talk about an event where the Sun will ‘stop’ and cause the longest day of the year, UNAM experts explain what this means and why it happens.
According to NASA, the Earth does not rotate precisely aligned with the ecliptic, but has an axis of inclination of 23.5 degrees with respect to the Sun. The terrestrial axis is an imaginary line that crosses the world from the north pole to the south pole, on this , the Earth performs its rotation movement. The combination of the movements of rotation, translation and the inclination of the Earth’s axis, give rise to the equinoxes and solstices. But why? For the positions derived from the set of these movements cause the amounts of sunlight that the planet receives, are different in all its regions as it advances in its trajectory around the Major Astro.
When the north pole points towards the Sun, the south pole automatically tilts in the opposite direction. This is what makes the North Hemisphere the summerWhile in the southern hemisphere mark the entrance of winter.
Why is it said that the Sun ‘stands still’?
Daniel Flores Gutiérrez, a researcher at UNAM’s Institute of Astronomy explains that «the summer solstice has to do with certain positions in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Since the orbits are elliptical, there are points where it is further away from the Sun. or closer to the Sun. Furthermore, he explained why the Sun is said to ‘stand still’.
According to the expert, these return points take us to the summer solstices because seen from Earth, the Sun appears in the same place for several weeks and apparently does not change its position. That is to say, that for several days the maximum height at noon of the Major Astro is located at the same point. «That’s why it’s called solstice, which means sun stopped or stopped.» It refers to the fact that the word solstice comes from two Latin words ‘sun’ Y ‘sister’, the latter means stop. Therefore, solstice is interpreted as ‘sun I want’ or ‘sun stopped’.
This year the Sun will ‘stop’ on Sunday June 20 at 9:32 p.m., When the summer solstice enters From this moment on, the Sun will appear at its maximum in the same place for at least three days. This will mark the longest day of the year with the greatest amount of sunlight, as well as the shortest night.
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