11 Facts you didn't know about Winter Solstice
Each year, our little blue planet goes through cycles. This week, we observe the ending of one of those cycles with the winter solstice. The winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and the longest period of nighttime in the year. When Earth's North or South pole reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun, the solstice occurs. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern).
Today, we have 11 little-known facts about the solstice.
The winter solstice, seen as a significant time of year in many cultures, has been celebrated with festivals and rituals, some of which continue today. Ancient cultures observed the day to mark the symbolic death and rebirth of the Sun. The seasonal significance of the winter solstice is that it marks the reversal of the lengthening of nights and shortening of days. This was just one of the ways that ancient cultures measured the progression of time through the year.
Date and time of the winter solstice this year
This year, Winter Solstice will be observed on Tuesday, Dec 21, 2021 at 8:58 AM Mountain Time.
Even though the solstice is marked by a whole day on the calendar, it's actually just the brief moment when the sun is exactly over the Tropic of Capricorn that the event occurs.
Latin word roots
“Solstice” can be translated to mean “Sun Stand Still”
Solstice derives from the Latin scientific term “solstitium,” containing sol, which means "sun," and the past participle stem of sistere, meaning "to make stand." This phrasing comes from the sun’s position in the sky relative to the horizon at noon, which increases and decreases throughout the year, and appears to pause in the days near the solstice. Earlier cultures were considering the sun's path, how long it stayed in the sky and what sort of light and shadows it casts.
11 Winter Solstice Facts
1. The precise moment that the solstice occurs cannot be observed by amateurs. Because the sun moves so slowly, astronomical tracking must be used to pinpoint the actual moment of the solstice. "The Earth's orbit is not a perfect circle, and when we're closest to the sun, our world moves fastest in orbit. Our closest point to the sun — or perihelion – comes in early January. So we are moving fastest in orbit around now, slightly faster than our average speed of about 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) per second. The discrepancy between sun time and clock time is greater around the December solstice than the June solstice because we're nearer the sun at this time of year."
https://patch.com/colorado/boulder/winter-solstice-2021-ursid-meteors-what-expect-boulder
2. Major societal shifts have been marked by the winter solstice. The Pilgrims were settling at Plymouth, Massachusetts on December 21, 1620, to found a new society in America. On the winter solstice in 1898, Pierre and Marie Curie first discovered radium, ushering in the new atomic age. And, on December 21, 1968, the Apollo 8 spacecraft was launched, becoming the first moon mission crewed by people.
3. Stonehenge is aligned to the daily sunset of the winter solstice. The main axis of Stonehenge is oriented toward the setting sun, granting a magnificent view for tourists as the sun goes down on the day of the winter solstice. Newgrange, another structure built around the same time as Stonehenge, lines up with the winter solstice sunrise. Some scholars have theorized that the position of the sun was of religious significance to the people who built Stonehenge. Other theories claim that the monument was constructed along natural features that happen to align with it.
4. Ancient Romans celebrated with a “Midwinter Festival.” This ancient Roman holiday began as a festival to honor the agricultural god Saturn, and was held to commemorate the dedication of his temple in 497 BCE. Mask-wearing and play-acting were part of the civilization’s wild celebrations. Through the years, “midwinter festival” was gradually replaced by Christmas throughout the Roman Empire, but many of its customs continue today as Christmas traditions.
5. Some people thought winter solstice, 2012 would bring the end. December 21, 2012, corresponds to the date 13.0.0.0.0 in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar used by the ancient Maya culture, marking the end of its 5126-year cycle. Some people feared this date would bring about the end of the world or some other cataclysmic event. Others saw it in a different light, hoping it would mean the birth of a new age of deep transformation for Earth and its people. In the end though, neither of these things appeared to occur, leaving the world to continue winter solstices as usual.
6. Each planet in Earth’s solar system has its own solstices and equinoxes. Just like with our planet, the length of each season and when a solstice or equinox occurs depend on the planet’s tilt toward the sun. For instance, Uranus is tilted by 82 degrees. This leads it to deal with seasons that last for two decades. Talk about “waiting around” for the season to pass!
7. Winter solstice does not always happen on the same day. The winter solstice date can be December 21, 22 or 23 of the year. Winter solstice occurs when the sun shines directly at 90 degrees on the Tropic of Cancer, which happens every 365.24219 days. But there are 365 days or 366 days in our calendar years. Because this is longer or shorter than the solstice, the date changes slightly every year.
8. There are actually 2 winter solstices every year! Sometimes it’s easy to be northern hemisphere-centric. But, the other side of the planet gets a winter solstice, too. While our winter solstice is around Dec. 21, the Southern Hemisphere celebrates the same around June 21. The Northern Hemisphere is closer to the sun during the winter, but it is our tilted position away from the sun that causes cold temperatures and less light. The Southern hemisphere, however, is at its most warm and toasty during this time, granting them their summer solstice.
9. Polar night occurs in the whole Arctic Circle. After the autumn equinox around September 23rd, the polar night starts to occur near the North Pole. During the polar night, the area covered by darkness near the North Pole grows larger and larger and reaches its maximum on the winter solstice. During that time, it stays as dark as night into mid-day, and even all throughout the day for a while. After the winter solstice, polar night near the Arctic gradually decreases, becoming smaller and smaller until it disappears around March 21st, the spring equinox.
10. China was measuring sunlight, solstices, and equinoxes long ago. About 2,500 years ago, in the spring and autumn period, China applied an ancient instrument called the “Tugui” for measuring the length of the sun’s shadow. By using this, they were able to find the day with the longest night and shortest daytime, which we know as the winter solstice.
11. Full solstice moons are rarer than blue moons. According to the Farmer's Almanac, Since 1793, a full moon has only occurred on the winter solstice 10 times. The last one was in 2010, and the next full moon on a winter solstice won't be until 2094.
During this year’s winter solstice, get out there and enjoy the phenomenon of our sun low in the sky for yourself. Go out, have fun and make some cool observations.
We at WK Real Estate want to wish you the happiest of times during this season. If there is anything we can help you with, please don't hesitate to contact us.