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The Longest Day of the Year;
Veranillo de San Juan
Today, is the longest day of the
year or Summer Solstice, an
astronomical term regarding the
position of the sun in relation
to the celestial equator.
At the time of the summer
solstice, Earth is at a point in
its orbit where one hemisphere
is most tilted towards the sun,
causing the sun to appear at
23.45 degrees above the
celestial equator, thus making
its highest path across the sky.
The summer solstice is the day
of the year with the longest
daylight period and hence the
shortest night.
This day usually occurs on June
21/June 22 in the northern
hemisphere and on December
21/December 22 in the southern
hemisphere. The actual date
changes due to differences
between the calendar year and
the tropical year.
At the point of the summer
solstice in the Northern
Hemisphere the sun appears to be
directly overhead at midday
along an imaginary line on the
Northern Hemisphere at latitude
23.45 deg N known as the Tropic
of Cancer. At the summer
solstice in the Southern
Hemisphere the sun appears
directly overhead at midday
along an imaginary line 23.45
deg S known as the Tropic of
Capricorn. These two lines were
so-called because, in ancient
times when the first Western
astrological charts were set,
the sun rose in these
constellations at these times.
These lines mark the southern
and northern most points where
the sun can appear to be
directly overhead to an
Earth-based observer, and
encompass the tropical region of
the earth's surface.
Coincidentally, Costa Rica is
experiencing what is known as
"El Veranillo de San Juan" or
"little summer".
The Veranillo is an interruption
of between two to three weeks of
dry spell during the 'rainy
season' (May to November).
Although, the Veranillo occurs
in July or August, this year it
appears to be early, if we are
really experiencing the
Veranillo.
Although it is
fairly likely that it will rain
on any given day during the
rainy season, there has been no
rain (save a little sprinkle
Tuesday afternoon) in the
Central Valley area since
Sunday.
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