Summer Solstice 2010 Pictures: Fire Rites, Druids, More

Solstice Celebration Circle

Photograph by Konstantin Zavrazhin, Getty Images

Followers of Slavic neo-pagan religious movements gather in a Russian forest for a summer solstice 2010 celebration on Saturday.

The summer solstice is recognized and often celebrated in many cultures around the world—in both the past and present, experts say. For instance, Stonehenge in the United Kingdom has been associated with the winter and summer solstices for about 5,000 years.

(Pictures: "Summer Solstice Marked With Fire, Magic" [2008].)

Published June 21, 2010

Solstice Fire Jumper

Photograph by Konstantin Zavrazhin, Getty Images

Russian pagans jump over a ritual fire during a summer solstice 2010 celebration on Saturday.

At high noon on the first day of summer the sun appears at its highest point in the sky—its most directly overhead position—in the Northern Hemisphere. But that doesn't mean the first day of summer is also the hottest day of the year.

Earth's oceans and atmosphere act like heat sinks, absorbing and reradiating the sun's rays over time. So even though the planet is absorbing lots of sunlight on the summer solstice, it takes several weeks to release it. As a result, the hottest days of summer usually occur in July or August.

Published June 21, 2010

Druid King at Stonehenge

Photograph by Matt Cardy, Getty Images

A man dressed as Druid King Arthur Pendragon conducts a summer solstice 2010 sunset service near Stonehenge in the United Kingdom on Sunday.

Observers in the center of the standing stones can watch the summer solstice sun rise directly over the Heel Stone, which stands just outside Stonehenge's famous circle.

Published June 21, 2010

Pagan Solstice Dancer

Photograph by Konstantin Zavrazhin, Getty Images

A Russian pagan dances near a ritual fire during a summer solstice 2010 festival on Saturday.

While the summer solstice generally occurs on the same day in June every year, the date does change every once in a while. For example, in 2008 the summer solstice occurred on June 20.

Published June 21, 2010

Solstice Friendship Nest

Photograph by Niall Carson, PA Wire/AP

Summer solstice 2010 revelers sit in a "friendship nest" at the Body and Soul festival, held at Ballinlough Castle in County Meath, England, on Sunday.

The summer solstice has long been marked by cultures worldwide. The ancient Egyptians, for example, built the Great Pyramids so that the solstice sunset, when viewed from the Sphinx, sets precisely between two of the Pyramids.

Published June 21, 2010

Summer's First Sunrise

Photograph by Robert Atanasovski, AFP/Getty Images

The sun rises behind a rocky crest filled with astronomical markers at the Kokino observatory in Macedonia early on Sunday, the day before the summer solstice.

The 4,000-year-old astronomical observatory includes special stone markers used to track the movement of the sun and moon on the eastern horizon.

Published June 21, 2010

Indian New Year

Photograph by David Mercado, Reuters

Bolivian indigenous people celebrate sunrise during a winter solstice ceremony in Tiwanaku, about 44 miles (70 kilometers) from the capital of La Paz, on Monday.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the June solstice is the first day of winter, since that part of Earth is tilted farthest from the sun.

The winter solstice coincides with the start of the New Year for South America's Aymara Indians.

Published June 21, 2010

Cloudy Summer Sunrise

Photograph by Kieran Doherty, Reuters

Thousands of druids and revelers witnessed a cloud-obscured sunrise Monday at Stonehenge on summer solstice 2010.

Many people make an annual pilgrimage to the ancient site, on England's Salisbury Plain, to celebrate the first day of summer.

Published June 21, 2010