Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
With the official start of the event astronomical winterthe sun reaches its southernmost point in the sky as seen from Earth. At noon, it appears just above the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 degrees south latitude. This position is consistent with the shortest day The northern hemisphere is tilted as far as possible over the course of the year sun Try, in turn, to experience the fewest hours of sunlight possible.
the exact time of winter solsticewhich only lasted a moment, with the official season change taking place at 4:20 a.m. ET (0920 GMT) on Saturday, December 21, According to In the Sky.org.
With winter comes the coldest months of the year. This is because the sun is closer to the horizon than it is during warmer months. Throughout the day, sunlight appears lower in the sky, making it less intense and spread over a larger area, resulting in cooler winter temperatures. The good news is that from now on, as the sun rises earlier and sets later, each day will gradually become longer and sunnier until the summer solstice in June.
The Earth experiences seasons because the Earth’s axis is tilted 23.5 degrees. This means that every year, Earth Orbiting around the Sun, there are times when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun and receives more sunlight, resulting in summer, while there are times when the Southern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, receiving more sunlight, which marks our winter.
Therefore, cooler winter temperatures are a result of the Earth’s tilt, not the Earth’s distance from the Sun. In fact, the Earth will reach its closest point to the sun, also known as perihelion, on January 4, 2025, during the northern hemisphere winter. According to In the Sky.org.
Perihelion occurs because the Earth’s path around the Sun is not a perfect circle, but an ellipse, so the distance between the Earth and the Sun changes throughout the year. exist perihelionthe Earth is about 91.4 million miles (147.1 million kilometers) from the Sun, while its average distance is about 93 million miles (149.6 million kilometers).
Many festivals and traditions originate from celebrating the winter solstice, which many cultures view as a time of renewal, hope and the return of light. Starting tomorrow, sunshine will gradually begin to increase. While the change is subtle at first, it becomes noticeable after about a month as the sun rises earlier and sets later.