The summer solstice occurs when the tilt of a planet's semi-axis, in either the northern or the southern Hemisphere, is most inclined toward the star (sun) that it orbits. Earth's maximum axial tilt toward the sun is 23° 26'. This happens twice each year, at which times the sun reaches its highest position in the sky as seen from the north or the south pole. The summer solstice occurs during a hemisphere's summer. This is the northern solstice in the northern hemisphere and the southern solstice in the southern hemisphere. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the summer solstice occurs some time between June 20 and June 22 in the northern hemisphere and between December 20 and December 23 each year in the southern hemisphere.

Solstice is derived from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still).

This years solstice took place on 21 June 2015, and two of our team were there to witness this very public event. Here are their photographs and video’s.