Mondo Knows Facts
Stonehenge lines up with the solstice sunrise
The main axis points to midsummer dawn and midwinter sunset The monument's axis runs from the north east entrance toward the centre, following the extreme positions of the Sun. Whether that was the builders' purpose is debated, along with much else about the site. Many cultures built similar seasonal markers. It sits in Mondo's space collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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Tags: archaeoastronomy, stonehenge, solstice
Stonehenge lines up with the solstice sunrise: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- The main axis points to midsummer dawn and midwinter sunset. The figure is taken from English Heritage, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a space fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Space shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.