Lewreader, all the solstices and equinoxes are equally likely to vary by 36 hours, or maybe even a bit more. Any of them can fall on the 20th, 21st or 22nd of their month; the 21st is just the most common.
The two biggest causes of the variation are that the annual cycle is thrown out of sync with the cosmos by 24 hours every four years, when we add a 29th day to February; and that the earth’s travel around the sun is faster at some points than at others because its orbit is slightly elliptical rather than being a perfect circle.
At least equinoxes and solstices don’t vary as much as Easter (4 weeks), Thanksgiving Day (6 days) or even the “Fourth of July” (usually observed on the nearest Monday or Friday nowadays).
Guys, I think Flag Day (June 14, every year) is a fun holiday and way too widely overlooked. It may never have been a bank/work holiday, but it’s an excuse to fly the flag, and I like our flag.
So it’s a shame if a Solstice arc intrudes by taking up a whole week … but story arcs have to start and end sometime.
Lewreader, all the solstices and equinoxes are equally likely to vary by 36 hours, or maybe even a bit more. Any of them can fall on the 20th, 21st or 22nd of their month; the 21st is just the most common.
The two biggest causes of the variation are that the annual cycle is thrown out of sync with the cosmos by 24 hours every four years, when we add a 29th day to February; and that the earth’s travel around the sun is faster at some points than at others because its orbit is slightly elliptical rather than being a perfect circle.
At least equinoxes and solstices don’t vary as much as Easter (4 weeks), Thanksgiving Day (6 days) or even the “Fourth of July” (usually observed on the nearest Monday or Friday nowadays).
Guys, I think Flag Day (June 14, every year) is a fun holiday and way too widely overlooked. It may never have been a bank/work holiday, but it’s an excuse to fly the flag, and I like our flag.
So it’s a shame if a Solstice arc intrudes by taking up a whole week … but story arcs have to start and end sometime.