What’s the Winter Solstice? Celebrations, Science, Livestream

welcome to Officially begins astronomical wintermarked by the winter solstice.

In 2024, the northern hemisphere winter solstice begins on Around 4:20 a.m. ET on December 21st. Although this time it won’t be as dramatic as 2020 Jupiter and Saturn ConjunctionThe longest night of the year remains an important turning point. Going forward, daylight hours (i.e. the hours of daylight) will gradually start to get longer.

Curious why this happens? “Wired” magazine interviewed Tansu Dharama former postdoctoral associate on MIT’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), to learn more about the winter solstice and our planet’s relationship with the sun.

To imagine what happens in space during the winter solstice, first imagine a giant glass ball orbiting the Earth, and let’s ignore the planet’s rotation (which complicates everything). “If you look at the three-dimensional sphere around us, the celestial sphere, the Sun and all other solar system objects pass through a plane in this sphere, the ecliptic plane,” Dailan said.

“When you do this, the sun changes its declination,” he said. declination and right ascension They are the two main axes of the celestial sphere. “In this frame of reference, from our perspective in the northern hemisphere, the sun is at its southernmost point at the winter solstice.”

The winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere occurs when Arctic The tilt is furthest from the sun. The Arctic Circle is shrouded in darkness, experiencing the longest night of the year. In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs at the same time, the South Pole is at an angle to the sun, and the Antarctic Circle also experiences midnight sun.

NASA’s online space flight basics tutorial includes information on Celestial sphere with illustrations For anyone willing to explore this idea further.

The sun is lower during the winter solstice, which can cause you to noon shadow Very long. Although the summer solstice is important to humans, it doesn’t mean much to the larger universe.

“The solstice is defined in terms of the Earth-Sun system, not necessarily the entire solar system. We attribute a lot of meaning to it because the Sun is so sacred to us, and its position on the celestial sphere, as a function of the time of year, is very Important,” Dailan said. “It determines the climate. Over the course of the year, it tells us when crops are ripe. So it’s very important, especially for historical civilizations.

celebration moment

from Yuzu Bathhouse Arrive in Japan sunday celebrations In Peru, cultures around the world have a long history of celebrating the winter solstice. At this time of year, contemporary British druids and archaeologists continue to focus on the monuments of Stonehenge. The interests of these two groups sometimes align, but they often disagree on issues such as presentation. Human remains found at Stonehenge.

Below, you can watch the sunrise from Stonehenge live on YouTube during the winter solstice.