Google has celebrated the "longest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere", also known as the Summer Solstice, by dedicating a doodle. The day marks the circling of sun by our planet earth, resulting into the South Pole angling closest to the sun on December 21, that is today.

Google in its doodle description mentioned that the word “solstice” derives from the Latin sol for “sun” and sistere meaning “to come to a stop or make stand.”

What really happens on this day in the Southern Hemisphere is that "the sun ascends directly above the Tropic of Capricorn." This causes the sun to shine 24 hours a day north of the Arctic—a natural wonder known as the Midnight Sun, while most of the world is experiencing winter.

"Everywhere from Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires to Johannesburg and Jakarta, folks are enjoying this extra-long day by taking a break to bask in the late-night rays" said Google in its description and wished a Happy Summer Solstice to the Southern Hemisphere!

The Southern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is south of the Equator. It contains all or parts of five continents, four oceans and most of the Pacific Islands in Oceania. The Southern Hemisphere includes most of South America, one-third of Africa, all of Antarctica, a small sliver of Asia (parts of Indonesia) and all of Australia/Oceania.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 21, 2018 12:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).