Have you noticed it takes longer to get dark outside? The amount of daylight changes over the year. We live in the northern half of our planet, and our longest day of the year is almost here. We recognize this day as the start of summer, and it happens this year on June 20th.
What makes daylight on June 20th longer than any other day? It has to do with the position of Earth and the Sun. In summer, the northern hemisphere of Earth leans towards the Sun. Because of this, the Sun takes longer to move across the sky from sunrise to sunset.
People observe stars and planets at a building called an observatory. An observatory can have tools and instruments for looking at the sky during the day and night. An example of an observatory is Griffith Observatory. This observatory has a special tool to study how the Sun moves across the sky. With this tool you can watch sunlight move over a device at noon. It shows the month and day of the year. The tool also indicates the start of summer!
What Do You Think? Besides more daylight, what else do you notice as the summer gets closer?
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