What is Winter Solstice?
Have you ever noticed that the days are longer in summer and shorter in winters? The length of days keeps changing all year round. But we experience the longest day of the year during summers, known as summer solstice, and the year’s shortest day during winters, known as winter solstice.
It is an Astronomical event due to two factors:
1.The Earth’s tilt on its own axis and
2. The movement of Earth on its orbit around the sun.
What happens during a Winter Solstice?
The Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees and it orbits around the sun in one year. If you live in the northern hemisphere, the Earth is tilted away from the sun in winter.
Winter Solstice in different countries
December solstice is winter time in the UK, US, Canada, Russia, India and China; while this is summer time in Australia, Argentina, Chile, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa. When do you think Australia has its summer and winter solstices then?
What is the December Solstice?
Winter solstice, also known as December solstice, is also considered as the first day of winter because the northern hemisphere gets the least amount of sunlight on this day.
What does “Solstice” mean?
The word Solstice comes from Latin and it means ‘sun- stand still.’ This day, regions experience late dawns, early sunsets and a low arc of the sun across the sky.
When is Winter Solstice?
When is the winter solstice this year? Winter solstice 2016 will occur on December 21, 2016.
Winter Solstice Celebrations
- Winter solstice is also a cultural event and has been celebrated since many years. People believed that the fading light would not reappear unless humans kept a watch on it and kept celebrating. Winter solstice celebrations happen across various cultures.
- In ancient Rome slaves were asked to celebrate with the masters, schools were closed and no criminal was executed on this day.
- Keep observing the level of sunlight during this winter. Happy winter solstice!
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