The Karnak Temple is in Luxor, Egypt. The image was taken by David Degner.
For many of us on Earth this year, the first day of winter is more than a desire for snow and hot chocolate, it's also the beginning of a new year and we're closer than ever to the end of the year.
The winter solstice is an amazing sight. Our blue marble's tilt as it treks around the sun causes the Northern Hemisphere to have the lowest hours of daylight of the year.
It happens in an instant, at 10:59 a.m., although the solstice gets an entire day of recognition. The North Pole is at its farthest tilt from the sun on Tuesday. The position leaves the North Pole beyond the sun's reach and plunges it into total darkness.
In the Southern Hemisphere, the sun will shine directly overhead at noon, along the Tropic of Capricorn, which runs through Australia, Brazil, and northern South Africa. The Southern Hemisphere has the longest day of the year when the sun appears to be at its southernmost point in the sky, while the Northern Hemisphere has its shortest day of the year when the sun appears to be at its northernmost point.
There are some good videos for you.
There are 6 ancient tributes to the winter solstice.
The sun will reach its southernmost point in the sky at the moment of the summer solstice. The name "solstice" means "sun stands still" in Latin and means that the sun will stop moving after that moment.
The days will get longer in the Northern Hemisphere after the winter solstice. It doesn't mean temperatures will go up immediately. The northern midlatitudes will get about 9 hours of daylight in the weeks following the summer solstice, compared with the 15 hours of daily sunlight they get around the summer solstice, Live Science previously reported. The Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun.
Even as the days get longer, the oceans need a lot of energy from the sun to heat up.
The winter solstice has been recognized by many cultures. The most famous place is England. The people who built the monument may have had spiritual significance to the central Altar stone and Slaughter stone, which are aligned with the sun's rays when the shortest day of the year occurs.
In Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, the ancient stone walled city of Tulum has a structure honoring the longest day of the year. When the sun shines through a small hole at the top of a stone building, it creates a starburst effect.
The article was originally published in December. It was updated in December of 2021.
The original article was on Live Science.
