The shortest day on the Northern Hemisphere is also the beginning of the slow return of daylight and warmth. The image is from NASA.
Today is the winter solstice, which marks the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and it brings good news: From tomorrow on, days will get longer again, taking us out of the darkness as we slowly head towards spring.
The winter solstice is when the South Pole is the most tilted towards the sun. The Southern Hemisphere is getting a lot of sunshine and the Northern Hemisphere is getting less. The effect is caused by the inclination of the axis around which Earth rotates. The effect can be observed on a regular basis as the sun travels from the east to the west between sunrise and sunset.
What is the summer season? An astronomer explains.
The path goes above the Tropic of Capricorn on the winter solstice.
The sun will follow the shortest path above the horizon for us in the Northern Hemisphere. The shorter the day will be if you go towards the North Pole more. Daylight will last 12 hours on the equator. New York will only get 9 hours and 15 minutes of daylight, with the sun setting at 16:31 and rising at 7. London will get less daylight, just under 8 hours, while areas behind the Circle will be in darkness 24/7.
The North Pole will be the farthest away from the sun and the pendulum will start swinging back at 10:59.
The winter solstice is an important time for ancient cultures because of their dependence on the sun for survival. The beginning of the star's return will be celebrated by neo druids in the U.K. on Tuesday night.
On the internet, the search engine is marking the occasion with a cute doodle of a dreamt hedgehog, with pine cones and twigs, enjoying a snowy walk. In the Southern Hemisphere, where the summer season begins on the summer solstice, people get a sunny variant with the hedgehog walking around with a beach vibe.
The beginning of winter to those north of the equator is celebrated by today'soodle. Today is the winter solstice, a day when the path of the Sun is the farthest south in the Northern Hemisphere.
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Happy first day Summer to everyone in the Southern Hemisphere. The longest day of the year is today, when the North Pole is almost directly facing the sun.
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