Google celebrated the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere with a doodle. The longest day of the year, the solstice marks the official beginning of the summer season and people living north of the Equator enjoy the most amount of sunlight.
The summer solstice also called as June solstice will last till September 22 or 23. This is the day when the earth is tilted towards the sun at the maximum point.
The doodle shows a cute picture of the Google logo with a smiling Earth enjoying the summer sun.
Incidentally, the solstice occurs when the sun is directly over the imaginary Tropic of Cancer. Notably, summer solstices happen twice each year, once in each hemisphere. It is called a summer solstice for the Northern Hemisphere and a Winter solstice for the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa.
The word ‘solstice’ is derived from the Latin word solstitium, meaning “Sun (sol) stoppage (stitium)”. The term refers to how the sun appears to have ‘stopped’ or ‘paused’ in the sky on this day of the year.
Incidentally, ancient structures like the Stonehenge and Great Pyramids at Giza have a special relationship with the solstices. Stonehenge sees the Heel Stone, which stands outside the main circle, line up with the rising sun on the solstices and the Great Pyramids at Giza appear to be aligned with the sun. When viewed from the Sphinx, the sun sets between the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre during the summer solstice.
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