I hope you’re enjoying the first official weekend of summer 2024. This past Thursday evening, on summer solstice day, the sun reached its most northern position in our celestial dome in its very slow annual eastward migration among the stars. With the sun so far north in the sky now, it’s taking the longest, highest arc across our sky, providing us with the maximum amount of daylight, well over 15 hours.
The sun has achieved a midday altitude of over 68 degrees above the southern horizon. Because of that, you’ll cast your shortest midday shadow of the year. The bad news I hate to share with you is that from now until the winter solstice in late December, daylight hours gradually decline.
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Boo hiss! Unfortunately for us diehard, determined stargazers, the longest days of the year translate to the shortest nights, making it really tough. It’s a late-night affair compounded with extended evening and morning twilights in our northern latitude. So summer stargazing requires an afternoon nap, at least for old star-geezers like me.
This first week of summer is challenging because we have a full moon whitewashing the summer sky. It’s an official full moon this weekend, and it’ll stay nearly full into the first part of the coming week. Many of us diehards keep telescopes in the barn during full moons.
Don’t get me wrong. This time of year, the full moon rising in the southeastern sky is a thing to behold. One of my greatest pleasures during full summer moons is getting.
