As the summer solstice arrives in the Northern Hemisphere, scientists at NASA say that a busy period of solar events is set to begin, with eclipses and a number of other phenomena taking place.
The summer solstice will arrive on June 21, marking the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
On that date, the city of Chicago will see 15 hours, 13 minutes and 41 seconds of daylight, with sunset occurring just before 8:30 p.m.
If you’re unable to get out of work to enjoy the extended sunshine, fear not, as the city will only lose approximately two minutes of daylight in the remaining days of June.
The summer solstice will not only mark the beginning of a new season, but also will serve as a demarcation on what is set to potentially be an active year from a solar perspective.
There will be not one, but two, solar eclipses in the next 12 months, and both will at least be partially visible from the Midwest.
The first will take place on Oct. 14, 2023. While a total eclipse will take place across parts of the southwestern United States, a partial eclipse will also be visible across the Midwest, with about 50% coverage over western Illinois and slightly-less coverage over parts of the Chicago area.
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The main event from an eclipse perspective will take place on April 8 of next year, with a total solar eclipse visible across a wide swath of the Midwest. While that will not take place in Chicago, large portions of Indiana, including Indianapolis, will see the total eclipse, which will last for several minutes during the afternoon hours.
In Evansville, totality will last for approximately three minutes, according to NASA.
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Finally, NASA says that the sun is reaching the peak of an 11-year solar cycle, which could cause a variety of impacts in coming months.
Every 11 years, the sun’s magnetic field flips. These flips can cause dramatic changes in activity on the sun’s surface, with solar flares and coronal mass ejections potentially impacting Earth in a variety of ways.
The Northern Lights can become more pronounced and visible in new locations during those times, and radio communications and even electricity grids can be impacted on Earth.
More information can be found on NASA’s website.
