Solstice

A solstice is an astronomical event that occurs twice each year (in June and December) as the Sun reaches its highest or lowest excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Both the solstices and the equinoxes are directly connected with the seasons of the year.

The term solstice can also be used in a broader sense, as the day when this occurs. The day of the solstice is either the longest day of the year (summer solstice) or the shortest day of the year (winter solstice) for any place outside of the tropics. Alternative terms, with no ambiguity as to which hemisphere is the context, are June solstice and December solstice, referring to the months of year in which they take place.

At latitudes in the temperate zone, the summer solstice marks the day when the sun appears highest in the sky. However, in the tropics, the sun appears directly overhead (called the subsolar point) some days (or even months) before the solstice and again after the solstice, which means the subsolar point occurs twice each year.

Solstice (UK doom metal band)

Solstice is an epic doom metal band from Dewsbury, England, founded by Rich Walker after the breaking up of his previous hardcore punk / grindcore bands Sore Throat and Warfear. Together with Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus, Solstice is responsible for expanding upon epic doom metal.

Rich Walker also used to run The Miskatonic Foundation, a record label dedicated to doom metal and traditional heavy metal. It has now since dissolved due to lack of time.

History

The band released their debut album Lamentations on England's Candlelight Records in 1994 and caught the attention of an underground scene that was at that point swept up with the still new second wave of black metal. Successive UK and European tours, with Count Raven and Anathema respectively, firmly cemented the band as something of a cult act across the continent.

1996 saw the release of the Halcyon EP on Black Tears, comfortably conveying the strength and progression of that line-up, while further embracing their English Heavy Metal roots but with an aesthetic that shows the band were not afraid to court a more sinister undercurrent. Shortly after, however, Solstice once again suffered line-up problems that essentially resulted in the band becoming largely dormant. In 1998, the band signed with Misanthropy Records, which helped with the release of New Dark Age', but the band was painfully laid to rest in 2002.

Solstice (UK progressive rock band)

Solstice are a British neo-progressive, folk rock band formed in 1980. They are led by guitarist Andy Glass, who is the sole founding member still in the band.

History

The band formed in 1980, and performed BBC sessions and received national music press coverage before splitting in 1985 (with one guest appearance in 1986). Their only album release in this period was 1984's Silent Dance.

Interest generated by a CD reissue of Silent Dance led to a reunion in the nineties with two studio releases, New Life and Circles, and a live album, The Cropredy Set.

Guitarist Andy Glass once more put the band on hold in order to focus on band 3sticks. A DVD release of the Cropredy performance preceded another reunion in 2007, with the entire back catalogue being remastered and issued in expanded "Definitive Edition" form. The band then toured the UK and, for the first time, mainland Europe.

Band members Andy Glass, Peter Helmsley, and Jenny Newman also work together in the band "3 Sticks".

Sturgeon

Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. Their evolution dates back to the Triassic some 245 to 208 million years ago. The family is grouped into four genera: Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. Four species may now be extinct. Two closely related species, Polyodon spathula (paddlefish) and Psephurus gladius (Chinese paddlefish, possibly extinct) are of the same order, Acipenseriformes, but are in the family Polyodontidae and are not considered to be "true" sturgeons. Both sturgeons and paddlefish have been referred to as "primitive fishes" because their morphological characteristics have remained relatively unchanged since the earliest fossil record. Sturgeons are native to subtropical, temperate and sub-Arctic rivers, lakes and coastlines of Eurasia and North America.

Sturgeons are long-lived, late-maturing fishes with distinctive characteristics, such as a heterocercal caudal fin similar to that of sharks, and an elongated spindle-like body that is smooth-skinned, scaleless and armored with 5 lateral rows of bony plates called scutes. Several species can grow quite large, typically ranging 7–12 feet (2-3½ m) in length. The largest sturgeon on record was a Beluga female captured in the Volga estuary in 1827, weighing 1,571 kg (3,463 lb) and 7.2 m (24 ft) long. Most sturgeons are anadromous bottom-feeders which migrate upstream to spawn but spend most of their lives feeding in river deltas and estuaries. Some species inhabit freshwater environments exclusively while others primarily inhabit marine environments near coastal areas, and are known to venture into open ocean.

Sturgeon (surname)

Sturgeon is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Sturgeon (provincial electoral district)

Sturgeon is a former provincial electoral district that existed from 1905 to 1940 in Alberta, Canada.

Election results

1905 general election

References

External links