Astronomical Phenomena To Observe After Summer Officially Begins In Spain On Wednesday 21

Summer 2023 will begin officially in Spain this Wednesday, June 21, at 4:58 pm Central European Time or CET.

According to calculations by the National Astronomical Observatory (OAN), the season will last for approximately 93 days and 16 hours. Summer will come to an end officially on September 23, when autumn starts.

Some interesting astronomical events will occur during the summer months. After the season begins, the only two planets visible to the human eye will be Venus and Mars.

As the months pass, Venus will get closer to the Sun and gradually disappear from the sky. At this point, it could be possible to catch a brief glimpse of Mercury for a few weeks between July and August.

Saturn will also make an appearance in mid-August. The planet will rise in the east just as the sun is setting.

Groups of bright stars will also be visible in the sky during the summer months. Probably the most beautiful of these is the so-called ‘summer triangle’. This shape is formed by Altair in the constellation of the Eagle, Deneb in the constellation of Cygnus, and Vega, in the constellation of Lyra.

Also typical of these months are the constellations of Scorpio, with the bright reddish star Antares, and Sagittarius, whose position roughly indicates the centre of the Milky Way.

This white band, which represents the combined brightness of the millions of stars that make up our galaxy, can be seen in all its splendour in summer. It will cross the sky from south to north, although a dark sky is needed to distinguish it clearly.

Other phenomena of astronomical interest will be the delta aquarid meteor showers. Their maximum visibility is expected to be around July 30.

Around August 12, the perseids will appear, coinciding with the thin waning moon. Full moons will appear on July 3, August 1, and August 31.

On July 6, the moment of maximum annual distance between the Earth and the Sun, known as ‘aphelion’, will occur.

When that happens, our distance from the Sun will be just over 152 million km, that is, about 5 million km more than at the moment of the smallest distance – perihelion – that took place on January 4.

During the summer of 2023, there will be no solar or lunar eclipse.

With a duration of just over 93 days, summer in the northern hemisphere is the longest season of the year. This is due to the fact that the Earth’s orbit around the Sun is not circular but elliptical, and summer coincides with the time of year in which Earth is farthest from the Sun.

According to Kepler’s second law, summer occurs when the Earth moves more slowly in its orbit. As a result, it takes longer to reach the point where the next season begins, which is autumn.

Throughout the 21st century, summer will begin between June 20 and 21 (the official Spanish date). Its earliest start will be in 2096 and the latest in 2003.

Variations that occur from one year to the next are due to to the duration of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun by fitting into the sequence of leap years of the calendar.

Although the day of the summer solstice corresponds to the day with the greatest number of hours of sunshine, the difference in hours between day and night depends on the latitude of the location.

For example, in cities like Madrid, this duration is expected to be 15 hours and 3 minutes, data that is far removed from 9 hours and 17 minutes on the shortest day when the winter solstice occurs.