Summer solstice: Thursday is longest day of the year

MANILA - It's the longest day of the year.

The Philippines on Thursday will experience its shortest night and longest daytime during the summer solstice, state weather bureau PAGASA said.

This year's summer solstice falls at 6:07 p.m.

A solstice is an astronomical event during which the sun is at its greatest northerly or southerly distance from the equator.

PAGASA said this is the time when the sun attains its greatest declination of +23.5 degrees and passes directly overhead at noon at latitude 23.5 degrees north, which is known as the Tropic of Cancer.

The event marks the start of the apparent southward movement of the sun in the ecliptic.

The summer solstice is in contrast with the December winter solstice where the country experiences longer nights and shorter days.