The sun will reach its highest point in the Australian sky as the country welcomes the summer solstice on December 22.
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An annual astronomic event, traditionally a time of celebration and summer festivals, it is used to track changes in seasons each year.
Seasons and lengths of days and nights are decided according to Earth's tilt relative to the sun, which changes through the year.
Days and nights across Australia will start getting shorter after the summer solstice.
According to Weatherzone, this year's summer solstice will happen on Friday, December 22 at 4.50pm when the sun will be at its highest point in the sky.
Many ancient monuments throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe are aligned with the sunrise on the longest day of the year.
Known as "midsummer" in ancient times, countries around Europe would throw elaborate summer festivals in tribute to their gods or goddesses.
Australia will also experience it's shortest night of the year, marking the south pole's furthest tilt away from the sun.
The longest day of the year will be slightly different in each state and territory.
In the NT, the sun will rise at 6.19am and set at 7.11pm.
In NSW, the sun will rise at 5.41am and set at 8.06pm and in Victoria it will rise at 5.55am and sunset will occur at 8.50pm.
In parts of Queensland, which doesn't observe daylight saving, the sun will rise before 5am.
In the ACT, the sun will rise at 5.15am and sunset will occur at 8.47pm.
The longest day of the year can fall anytime from December 21-23.
