Five things to know about winter solstice
The winter solstice marks the date when nights are longest and days are shortest in the Northern Hemisphere. In New York, the solstice happens at 11:48 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, Dec. 21.
What is the solstice?
Our winter – or the period between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox – is just shy of 89 days, while summer is almost 94 days long.
In the Southern Hemisphere, the December solstice is opposite. Most cattle were slaughtered so that they wouldn’t have to be fed during the winter, making the solstice a time when fresh meat was plentiful.
Be sure to look at your noontime shadow on the day of the solstice.
The Earth’s tilted axis causes the seasons.
The Latin word for sun is sol.
One of the most famous solstice celebrations occurs at the ancient Stonehenge ruins in Wiltshire, England, where druids, pagans and other revelers gather each year to celebrate the event.
It’s the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, where December 21 marks the longest day of the year and the beginning of astronomical summer. It means early sunset and late dawn. The solstice means the sun has reached its southernmost point in the sky. It continues to lean closer to the sun through the spring and until the Summer Solstice when it will again pause and begin its tilt away and begin the approach to fall and winter.
“The sun’s arc across the sky has been steadily dropping lower and becoming shorter since June”, notes National Geographic in a story giving the lowdown on winter solstices around the world and through the ages. We do not know which solstice was more important to the users of Stonehenge, but several pieces of evidence suggest that midwinter was very important. But celebrating this celestial moment goes back to ancient times, where for many cultures the solstice was thought of as an auspicious occasion.
For example, mysterious monuments such as the Newgrange tomb in Ireland was built such that it would be aligned with the morning sun around the Winter Solstice so that the sunlight would illuminate its interior passage and chamber.