An orbital oddity
Most things that happen at a particular time on a particular day follow the time zones: the new year arrives in New York City and then an hour later, in Chicago. Day-level things happen wherever that day is actually active: it's your birthday all day long.
Solstices and equinoxes are a bit peculiar because they actually occur at one specific moment, measured by the relationship of the Earth relative to the Sun. The Summer solstice this year, for example, occurs at exactly 5:45 a.m. GMT on June 21st.
I'm kind of used to thinking of this as a single-day event, so it strikes me as amusingly peculiar that the Summer solstice is on the 21st if you're in New York, but on the 20th if you're in Seattle.
Solstices and equinoxes are a bit peculiar because they actually occur at one specific moment, measured by the relationship of the Earth relative to the Sun. The Summer solstice this year, for example, occurs at exactly 5:45 a.m. GMT on June 21st.
I'm kind of used to thinking of this as a single-day event, so it strikes me as amusingly peculiar that the Summer solstice is on the 21st if you're in New York, but on the 20th if you're in Seattle.