Sunrise Solstice at Stonehenge
			
		
		
			Credit & Copyright:  
Pete Strasser (Tucson, Arizona, USA)
		
		
			Today the Sun reaches its northernmost point in the planet Earth's sky.  
Called a solstice, 
the date traditionally marks a change of seasons -- from spring to summer in 
Earth's Northern Hemisphere and from fall to 
winter in Earth's Southern Hemisphere.   
Pictured above is the 2005 Summer Solstice celebration at 
Stonehenge in 
England.  
The event was rare because 
Stonehenge was not always open to the public, 
and because recent summer solstices there had been annoyingly cloudy.  
In 2005, however, thousands of people gathered at sunrise to see the sun rise 
through the 
4,000 year old solar monument.  
Even given the precession of the Earth's rotational axis 
over the millennia, the Sun continues to rise over 
Stonehenge in an 
astronomically significant way. 
In fact, the photographer was able to find a good spot where the 
rising Sun 
appeared over one of Stonehenge's massive standing stones.