Solstice 2025
Summer solstice June 20 and winter solstice December 21, 2025. Longest and shortest days of the year with exact times.
☀️ Solstice: 2 events listed below with dates, times, and details. See the countdown and full schedule below.
Longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Summer begins.
Shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Winter begins.
About this solstice event
A solstice marks the moment when Earth's axial tilt is at its maximum toward or away from the Sun. The June solstice gives the Northern Hemisphere its longest day; the December solstice gives its shortest. The 2025 solstices fall on June 20, 2025 and December 21, 2025.
Benefits
- ·Shows exact solstice times in Eastern Time
- ·Identifies the hemispheric meaning (longest/shortest day)
- ·Pairs with sunrise/sunset for any city
- ·Counts down to the next solstice in real time
- ·Provides context for seasonal-affective and gardening planning
How it works
At the June solstice, the Sun reaches its northernmost point in the sky (the Tropic of Cancer); at the December solstice it reaches its southernmost (the Tropic of Capricorn). The word "solstice" comes from Latin "sol stetit" — the Sun stood still — because the Sun appears stationary at noon for several days around the event.
Stonehenge and many Neolithic monuments are aligned to solstice sunrise or sunset. The seasons we experience lag the solstices by ~6 weeks because oceans store and release heat slowly — which is why the hottest US weather is in late July, not late June.
Who uses this solstice event
Gardeners tracking light cycles, home-energy planners using passive solar design, photographers chasing extreme-light scenes, and anyone marking the seasonal calendar.
Solstice 2025
Summer solstice June 20 and winter solstice December 21, 2025. Longest and shortest days of the year with exact times.
Related
Frequently asked questions
What time exactly do the 2025 solstices occur?
2025 solstice times are listed above in Eastern Time. The solstice is a moment, not a day — it's when the Sun reaches its northernmost (June) or southernmost (December) point in the sky. Northern Hemisphere viewers experience the longest day on the June solstice, shortest on the December solstice; Southern Hemisphere is reversed.
Why don't the longest day and the latest sunrise / earliest sunset coincide with the 2025 solstice?
Earth's elliptical orbit and axial tilt cause the equation of time, which shifts solar noon away from clock noon by up to 16 minutes through the year. So the December solstice has the shortest day, but the latest sunrise comes 2 weeks after, and the earliest sunset 2 weeks before. Same effect at June solstice, opposite direction.
Why does the 2025 December solstice produce a high full moon?
The geometry is mirror-image to the June Sun: when the Sun is at its lowest (December), the full moon (which always sits opposite the Sun) is at its highest. Combined with long winter nights, the December full moon stays above the horizon for ~16 hours in mid-latitudes. The June full moon does the opposite — sits low and short.
What ancient monuments are aligned to the 2025 solstices?
Stonehenge (England, ~3000 BCE) aligns to summer-solstice sunrise. Newgrange (Ireland, ~3200 BCE) aligns to winter-solstice sunrise — the inner chamber lights up only on those mornings. Machu Picchu, Chichén Itzá, Karnak, and dozens of other Neolithic and ancient sites worldwide track solstice positions. 2025 solstice tourism remains active at most of these sites.