Winter Solstice: The Longest Night
In the next week, the Earth will pass through the winter solstice, which is the longest night (or, depending on your perspective, the shortest day) of the year. Many cultures mark this as the beginning of the winter season, but did you know it occurs at a different time each year?
In simple terms, the winter solstice takes place when the sun is at the greatest distance from the observer. It occurs sometime between December 20 and December 23 in the northern hemisphere. (With the seasons reversed, it occurs between June 20 and June 23 in the southern hemisphere.) This year we will observe it December 21 at 12:04 PM. That's right, just after noon.
From the Latin for "sun" and "to stand still", it is at this point that a reversal begins: the days grow longer, and the nights shorter. It has been celebrated for millennia as a time for rebirth. So settle in for a long winter's nap, and rejoice in the shifting sands of time.
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Stay cozy and snug in bed this winter with goose down bedding.
A duvet will keep you delightfully warm, even if you turn your thermostat down for a better night’s sleep and save on energy costs.
It is a common mistake to say that the winter solstice occurs when the sun is farthest away from those of us in the northern hemisphere. That’s because we were taught in grammar school that the earth “tilts” away from the sun during the winter. Actually, the earth maintains the same 23 1/2 degee tilt all year relative to the stars; as the earth orbits the sun, the Arctic Circle points toward the sun on the summer solstice, and the Antarctic Circle points toward the sun on the winter solstice. Because the orbit of the earth is an ellipse, not a circle, we are actually closest to the sun on or about January 3rd than any other day of the year! Winter is colder than summer, not because of distance from the sun, but because the sun is lower in the sky and in the sky for fewer hours. Southern hemishere summers (Dec – Feb) get about 3% more solar radiation than northern hemisphere summers (June – August) because of the elliptical orbit. It is very hot in the backcountry of Australia, but on average, the southern hemisphere summer is cooler than the northern hemispher summer because the southern hemisphere is mostly water.
When thinking about earth/sun (and moon) relations, it’s easier to use the old Ptolemeic geocentric system, wherein the earth stands still and the sun moves around the earth.
It’s all relative, anyway. We even still use the words sunrise and sunset as though the sun is doing the moving, and no one ever points out the obvious.