What are solstices?

Question

What are solstices?

Answer 1

Solstice, in astronomy, term applied to either of the two points in the ecliptic at which the Sun is farthest from the celestial equator. The solstice north of the celestial equator is called the summer solstice because the Sun is usually at its greatest declination on June 21 or 22 (at the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere); the solstice south of the celestial equator, called the winter solstice, usually occurs on December 21 or 22. The seasons are the reverse of the above for people living in the Southern Hemisphere. The term solstice means “Sun stands still”; at these times the Sun changes little in declination from one day to the next and appears to remain in one place north or south of the celestial equator.

Answer 2

The solstices are the two days-June 21 and December 21-when the sun is directly over one or other Tropic,(tropic of cancer-23.5 degree north latitude or tropic of capricon-23.5 degrees south latitude),producing the maximum and minimum daylengths.On these two days,the equator is at its farthest point from the sun.

June 21 is called the summer solstice and is summer for northern hemisphere with longer days and shorter nights and December21 is called winter solstice and it is winter for northern hemisphere with shorter days and longer nights.The reverse is the case for the southern hemisphere on these two days.