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What makes June 21 the Official Start of Summer?

Tuesday at 5:14 a.m. is the official start of summer, but why?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Tuesday at 5:21AM is officially the start of astronomical summer, you might be asking why?  Why this specific time on this specific day.

It all has to due with the Earth, its tilt and its relation to the sun. On the solstice the suns rays are directly above the Tropic of Cancer thanks to the tilt of the Earth which is at 23.5 degrees. Thus at the tropic of Cancer the amount of daylight is 13.5 hours, the artic circle is 24 hours,  Antarctic circle is in 24 hours of darkness and here in Jacksonville we have 14 hours and 6 minutes of daylight.

in Jacksonville the sun will be rising at 6:24 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:30 p.m.

By the way, the shortest day of the year is December 21, also known as the summer solstice, when we have 10 hours and 11 minutes of daylight.

Credit: WTLV

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