The winter is upon us. It's true today.
The shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere is the winter solstice. Today is the winter solstice, which means that from here on out, each day will be longer than the last.
The winter solstice takes place on December 21st. The Farmer's Almanac is open in a new tab. The days will get longer and nights will get shorter in the Northern Hemisphere. The sun will set earlier and begin to rise later than usual. It should be the longest noontime shadow of the year because of the low angle of the sun.
What happens when the winter season begins?
Our distance from the sun isn't the sole reason for the seasons on Earth. The middle of the Northern Hemisphere's winter is when Earth's perihelion occurs. According to In- The-Sky.org, it will fall on January 4, 2023.
When the axis is tilted in the direction of the sun, the winter and summer solstices happen. The south pole is tilted towards the sun during the winter and north pole is tilted towards the sun during the summer.
The Earth's axis is not tilted towards the sun during the fall and spring. The seasons are flipped in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
The sun will reach the southernmost point in the sky from the perspective of Earth at noon on the winter solstice.
This is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere because the sun will be at its lowest point in the sky at noon. It will be the longest day of the year in the southern hemisphere.
Midwinter festivals have long been celebrated on the winter solstice each year by current and ancient cultures. In fact, many elements of the Christmas holiday were influenced by the Roman pagan midwinter festival Saturnalia, which celebrated the god of agriculture and time and fell near the winter solstice each year.
According to History.com (opens in new tab), the winter solstice fell on Dec. 25 on the Julian calendar, which was used by the Ancient Romans; today we use the Gregorian calendar, which has the winter solstice fall on either Dec. 21 or Dec. 22.
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