Free: Griffith Observatory Summer Solstice Fun

The season officially arrives overnight, but you have two later-in-the-day chances to learn lots at the landmark.

What to Know

  • Thursday, June 21
  • Local Noon and Sunset
  • Free

While you're asleep, if you plan on snoozing from the later hours of June 20, 2018 through to the morning of June 21, something cosmic will occur: Summer will arrive in the Northern Hemisphere at 3:07, as in the a.m., as in the wee hours of the day.

Well, truth: Cosmic events are forever happening while we're asleep, near our planet and at great distances, and we don't always make the time to learn about them.

But when a new season arrives, Griffith Observatory, the sky-smart landmark in Griffith Park, always takes the time to share nifty information about the sun, days, nights, our earthly home turf, and how it all weaves together.

And that info-sharing time shall be taken on the summer solstice, Thursday, June 21, at local noon and again at sunset, so feel free to stop by and learn about how the seasons work.

Also, "free" is the operative word, for there's no cost to show up and brush up on your solstice knowledge.

Local noon, by the by, is not the noon we know, but when the sun is at the tippy-top-iest point in the sky. So, on Thursday, June 21, 2018, that'll be 12:54 p.m. PST. The Gottlieb Transit Corridor is the place to meet.

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Hoping to make the sunset presentation? That'll be at 8 o'clock, in the evening, as the "sunset" part strongly suggests, on the West Terrace.

We're not being cheeky, though, or just a little, but there's no cheekiness here: Because the observatory sits a bit higher than most of the city, sunset arrives around eight minutes earlier than the time posted for the rest of LA.

Interesting. So when the sun sets at 8:08 in Los Angeles, Griffith Observatory is already eight minutes beyond the moment.

Good to know? Arrive early for either or both presentations, because there are lots of solstice celebrants around Southern California.

We all know summer from its symbols, the swimming pools and flip-flops and beach balls and sunglasses. But the summer solstice is more about time, day length, planetary positioning, and all manner of out-of-this world factiness, as well as several cool facts about this world.

Learn about it all, for free, and enjoy Griffith-style schooling, on June 21.

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