June solstice brings Northern Hemisphere's longest day (opens in new tab)

The June solstice occurred Sunday, June 21, at 08:24 GMT, or 4:24 a.m. ET, marking the start of astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere and astronomical winter in the Southern Hemisphere. North of the equator, it brought the longest day and shortest night of 2026; south of the equator, it brought the opposite seasonal marker. The event occurs because Earth orbits the sun on a tilted axis, causing sunlight and warmth to fall unevenly on the two hemispheres during the year. At the Northe...