Editing Solstice (section)

===English names===
[[File:McGraw-Hill sundial jeh.JPG|thumb|Sun Triangle in New York points at Sun upon equinox and solstices]]
The two solstices can be distinguished by different pairs of names, depending on which feature one wants to stress.
* '''[[Summer solstice]]''' and '''[[winter solstice]]''' are the most common names, referring to the seasons they are associated with. However, these can be ambiguous since the [[Northern Hemisphere]]'s summer is the [[Southern Hemisphere]]'s winter, and vice versa. The [[Latin]]ate names '''estival solstice''' (summer) and '''hibernal solstice''' (winter) are sometimes used to the same effect,<ref>{{cite book
|last=Kent
|first=April Elliott
|title=The Essential Guide to Practical Astrology
|url=http://google.com/books?id=DOfnC5vAff4C&pg=PA284
|access-date=December 9, 2015
|date=June 7, 2011
|publisher=Penguin
|isbn=978-1-61564-093-5
|page=284}}</ref> as are '''midsummer''' and '''midwinter'''.
* '''[[June solstice]]''' and '''[[December solstice]]''' refer to the months of year in which they take place,<ref>{{cite book
|last=Bass
|first=Charles O.
|title=Astronomy Essentials
|url=http://google.com/books?id=wwsqvLL10KEC&pg=PA35
|access-date=December 9, 2015
|date=1994
|publisher=Research & Education Assoc
|isbn=978-0-87891-965-9
|page=35}}</ref> with no ambiguity as to which hemisphere is the context. They are still not universal, however, as not all cultures use a solar-based calendar where the solstices occur every year in the same month (as they do not in the [[Islamic calendar]] and [[Hebrew calendar]], for example).
* '''Northern solstice''' and '''southern solstice''' indicate the hemisphere of the Sun's location.<ref name="Kiddle1877">{{cite book
|last=Kiddle
|first=Henry
|title=A new manual of the elements of astronomy, descriptive and mathematical: comprising the latest discoveries and theoretic views : with directions for the use of the globes, and for studying the constellations
|url=http://google.com/books?id=NkwAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA82
|access-date=June 2, 2011
|date=1877
|publisher=Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor, & Company
|page=82}}</ref> The northern solstice is in June, when the Sun is directly over the [[Tropic of Cancer]] in the [[Northern Hemisphere]], and the southern solstice is in December, when the Sun is directly over the [[Tropic of Capricorn]] in the [[Southern Hemisphere]].<ref>{{cite book
|last=Jain
|first=R.K.
|title=ICSE Geography
|url=http://google.com/books?id=s4SdkMyKHNUC&pg=PA25
|access-date=December 9, 2015
|publisher=Ratna Sagar
|isbn=978-81-8332-579-0
|page=25}}</ref> These terms can be used unambiguously for other planets.
* '''First point of [[Cancer (astrology)|Cancer]]''' and '''first point of [[Capricorn (astrology)|Capricorn]]''' refer to the [[zodiac|astrological signs]] that the sun "is entering" (a system rooted in Roman Classical period dates).<ref>{{cite book
|last=Stewart
|first=Alexander
|title=A Compendium of ModernGeography
|url=http://google.com/books?id=Y3QDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA383
|access-date=December 9, 2015
|date=1869
|publisher=Oliver & Boyd
|location=Edinburgh
|page=383}}</ref> Due to the [[precession of the equinoxes]], the [[constellation]]s the sun appears in at solstices are currently [[Taurus (constellation)|Taurus]] in June and [[Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius]] in December.

{| class="wikitable" 
|+Names of the equinoxes and solstices
![[Celestial longitude|Ls]]
!By date
([[Gregorian calendar]])
!By sun position
([[subsolar point]])
!By season
([[Northern Hemisphere]])
!By season
([[Southern Hemisphere]])
|-
| style="text-align: right;" | 0°
|[[March equinox]]
|Northward equinox
|Vernal (spring) equinox
|Autumnal (fall) equinox
|-
| style="text-align: right;" | 90°
|[[June solstice]]
|Northern solstice
|[[Summer solstice|Estival (summer) solstice]]
|[[Winter solstice|Hibernal (winter) solstice]]
|-
| style="text-align: right;" | 180°
|[[September equinox]]
|Southward equinox
|Autumnal (fall) equinox
|Vernal (spring) equinox
|-
| style="text-align: right;" | 270°
|[[December solstice]]
|Southern solstice
|[[Winter solstice|Hibernal (winter) solstice]]
|[[Summer solstice|Estival (summer) solstice]]
|}