Solstice
![A solargraph taken from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment at the Llano de Chajnantor Observatory in the southern hemisphere. This is a long-exposure photograph, with the image exposed for six months in a direction facing east of north, from mid-December 2009 until the southern winter solstice in June 2010.[4] The sun's path each day can be seen from right to left in this image across the sky; the path of the following day runs slightly lower, until the day of the winter solstice, whose path is the lowest one in the image.](/Images/godic/202501/13/lossy-page1-220px-Solargraph_APEX.tif5504.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202501/13/ReflectedSolarRadiation_Solstices5504.jpg")
![Summer Solstice Sunrise over Stonehenge](/Images/godic/202501/13/Summer_Solstice_Sunrise_over_Stonehenge_20055504.jpg")
A solstice is an astronomical event that occurs twice each year (in June and December) as the Sun reaches its highest or lowest excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Both the solstices and the equinoxes are directly connected with the seasons of the year.