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Other names are the "extreme of winter", or the "shortest day". Since prehistory, the winter solstice has been a significant time of year in many cultures and has been marked by festivals and rites. [8] This is because it is the point when the shortening of daylight hours is reversed and the daytime begins to lengthen again.
The Latinate names estival solstice (summer) and hibernal solstice (winter) are sometimes used to the same effect, [17] as are midsummer and midwinter. June solstice and December solstice refer to the months of year in which they take place, [ 18 ] with no ambiguity as to which hemisphere is the context.
The 2024 winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, happens on Saturday, Dec. 21, in the Northern Hemisphere. The celestial event signifies the first day of winter, astronomically.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice will occur on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 4:21 a.m. EST. Where did the name winter come from? How the season got its name.
As holiday lights brighten streets and the season of cheer unfolds, Dec. 21 marks the winter solstice this year -- a reminder that the darkest day of the year is upon us. For the more than 6 ...
For that hemisphere, the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, when the Sun is at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky. Either pole experiences continuous darkness or twilight around its winter solstice. The opposite event is the summer solstice.
The December-solstice solar year is the solar year based on the December solstice. It is thus the length of time between adjacent December solstices. The length of the December-solstice year has been relatively stable between 6000 BC and AD 2000, in the range of 49 minutes 30 seconds to 50 minutes in excess of 365 days 5 hours.
The days are short and the nights are long. That can only mean one thing: The winter solstice is coming. The first day of winter for the northern hemisphere of Earth will begin on Dec. 21 at ...