Starry Night This Week

Each week most PBS stations air "Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer", the world's first and only weekly TV series on naked-eye astronomy. The Starry Night images on this page illustrate the show for the week of Monday June 16, 2008. You can view the complete show script, or watch a RealPlayer video of the show.

Why is the First Day of Summer Called the Summer Solstice?

This demonstration is set up somewhere in the American southwest at approximately 32 degrees latitude.

On the Summer Solstice, the sun rises at its furthest point north.

On the Winter Solstice, the sun rises at its furthest point south.

Note that a smaller portion of the Sun's path around the sky is visible from any given location that is currently experiencing winter, because of the way the Earth is tilted with respect to the Sun.

Still want to know more?

Click here for an archive of the past shows.

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Feel free to send us an email if you have any questions about Starry Night that you can't find answered here on our website. We also welcome your feedback and suggestions.