The day we’ve been waiting for, summer solstice, is almost here! This astronomical beginning of summer happens on Sunday, June 21, 2026, at 4:24AM EDT. And it doesn’t matter where in the northern hemisphere you live on Earth the summer solstice happens at the exact same moment for everyone on the planet no matter what time your clock says. Every day since the Spring equinox the Sun has been rising and setting a little farther north on the horizon. At the moment of summer solstice, the Sun reaches its northernmost point in our sky. No matter where you live on Earth, at summer solstice the Sun rises and sets its farthest north on your horizon. This apparent change in the position of the sun is due to the 23.5-degree axial tilt of the Earth and our orbital movement around the sun. This is the reason we have seasons. Summer solstice occurs when the Earth is in the part of its orbit where the northern hemisphere is most tilted toward the Sun making the Sun appear to be high in our sky and allowing the Earth to receive the Sun’s light and warmth most directly. Solstice is Latin for “Sun Stand Still.” This came from the observation that the Sun’s position appears to stop or stand still in the days surrounding the solstice. After these few days the Sun’s apparent motion begins to carry it southward once again. Ancient cultures around the world watched and studied the Sun’s path across the sky. They understood that the Sun’s position along the horizon at sunrise and sunset moved in a regular and predictable way during the year. They also knew that the amount of daylight also changed in a predictable way through the year. Many of these cultures built monuments to align with the solstices. We are familiar with Stonehenge built around 3000B.C. by the early neolithic people in England. On the summer solstice the Sun rises directly over the Heel Stone. Around the same time that Stonehenge was being built, Egyptians were building two pyramids, the Great Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Great Sphinx in Giza. The Sphinx and pyramids are aligned so that when standing in front of the Sphinx on summer solstice the Sun sets exactly between the two pyramids. Ancient Native Americans also used rock to mark the solstice. Bighorn Medicine Wheel is located on top the Bighorn Range in Wyoming. Built by Plains Indians around 800 years ago, there is evidence that it might be much older. The Wheel has an 80-foot diameter outer circle made of stones with a center doughnut shaped circle which is connected to the outer circle by 28 spoke-like stone lines. One alignment points to the summer solstice sunrise and a second alignment points to the summer solstice sunset. Other alignments pointing to rising stars may have been used to pinpoint the date of the summer solstice. In New Mexico on Fajada Butte behind three stone slabs Ancestral Puebloan people in Chaco Canyon carved two spiral petroglyphs into the rock – a large one and a small one. Late morning on the summer solstice the sun shines on the three stone slabs creating a spot of light directly above the large spiral. During the next 15 minutes this spot of light stretches into a shaft of light called a “sun dagger” that goes through the middle of the spiral and gradually moves down the spiral and disappears. Such sites were sacred and held deeply religious meaning to those who used them and, for the Bighorn Medicine Wheel, still use them. Also knowing when the summer solstice occurred was important to ancient cultures because it marked the longest day of the year, it marked the transition from planting season to the growing season for crops and with more sunlight and warmth it promised the abundance of nature. For us today summer solstice means the day with the longest hours of sunlight, and the shortest night of the calendar year that ushers in the long warm days of summer.