On Friday, June 21, the sun brightens our skies longer than on any other day in 2019. The summer solstice is here: our longest day and shortest night of the year, and the first day of astronomical summer in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere.

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This year’s solstice arrives at 11:54 a.m. Eastern. At this exact moment, the sun’s direct rays reach as far north as they ever get, appearing straight over the Tropic of Cancer, at 23.5 degrees north latitude. As a result, we see the sun take its longest and highest path through the sky.

The 2020 solstice arrives a day early, he summer solstice falls between March 20 and 22. But for those in the United States, that’s not the case this year. In fact, space.com reports that the March 19 equinox is earlier than any in the past 124 years.