Text by: Shermel R. Carlos
Photos by Ramil Coronel
Hues of dark crimson, periwinkle, and ginger skies paint the horizon of Subic Bay as the sun sets at last during the longest day of the year.
At 6:27 p.m., the 13-hour daylight begins to fade, transitioning to the shortest night of 2023.
Today, June 21, marks this year’s June Solstice, more commonly known as “Summer Solstice”. The phenomenon happens when the earth’s axis of rotation is tilted exactly 23.5 degrees relative to its orbit around the sun.
According to various online science journals and websites, the phenomenon happens when the earth’s axis of rotation is tilted exactly 23.5 degrees relative to its orbit around the sun.
It occurs twice a year. One for summer, which falls between June 20 and June 22, and one for winter, which falls between December 20 and December 22.
Summer is experienced in the hemisphere tilted toward the sun, and winter is experienced in the hemisphere tilted away from it. This explains why the summer solstice, compared to any other day of the year, receives the most daylight.
The next solstice of 2023 is to be expected 185 days from now, on December 22. Feel free to dance the whole night under sparkling lights as we sleigh through the longest night of the year. And most importantly, the holidays!
