Winter Solstice or Hibernal Solstice is here, it’s the shortest day or longest night of the year. Winter Solstice day is marked once every year on either December 21 or 22 in the winter season. Winter solstice is a key part of many cultures around the world and is celebrated in many ways.
Winter solstice in India
December 22 will have the fewest hours of daylight of the year in India. The day will have the longest night of the year.
The winter solstice occurs because Earth is tilted at an angle of about 23.5 degrees relative to the Sun. The Sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn. The tilt means that the Northern and Southern Hemispheres receive different amounts of sunlight throughout the year as Earth moves around the Sun. This is also the reason why we have four seasons.
What is winter solstice?
The Northern Hemisphere receives less sunlight during the end of the year while the Southern Hemisphere experiences summer during these months.
This means that December 22 will mark the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere as the South Pole will be tilted toward the sun and have more sunny exposure.
The winter solstice marks the onset of winter, at the time of the shortest day, about 22 December in the northern hemisphere and 21 June in the southern hemisphere.
After December 22, the days will begin to get longer and the nights shorter.
The shortest day of the year
The Winter Solstice, or the December Solstice, is the point at which the path of the sun in the sky is farthest south. At the Winter Solstice, the sun travels the shortest path through the sky resulting in the day of the year with the least sunlight and therefore, the longest night.
In the Winter Solstice, the days become shorter and shorter in the Northern Hemisphere which occurs annually on the 21st or 22nd of December. On this date, winter begins officially, according to a NASA resource. From then onwards the days become increasingly long leading up to the Summer Solstice, or the June Solstice, and the longest day of the year.
Winter solstice meaning
The word ‘Solstice’ is derived from the Latin scientific term ‘solstitium’, which roughly means “sun standing still”.
