Winter solstice 2023 will mark the day with the fewest daylight hours and coincides with the Ursid meteor bathe.
After weeks of dwindling daylight, Friday marks the longest evening of the yr and the day with the fewest gentle of the yr. The occasion is named winter solstice because it marks the beginning of winter within the northern hemisphere.
The occasion may even be a turning level for longer hours of daylight within the northern hemisphere, a phenomenon that has been tied to numerous cultural and folkloric beliefs in historical occasions.
Right here’s what to know concerning the 2023 winter solstice and the way it’s celebrated in numerous communities.
What’s winter solstice and what occurs throughout it?
December’s winter solstice is when the northern half of the Earth is tilted furthest away from the solar, making it the “astronomical” first day of winter.
The northern hemisphere will expertise the fewest hours of daylight, making it the shortest day of the yr whereas the evening is the longest.
The length of daylight will differ throughout international locations. In the UK’s London, the day is anticipated to final seven hours and 49 minutes, greater than eight hours shorter than the longest day of the yr.
The occasion may even coincide with the height of the Ursid meteor bathe – an annual show that happens over the northern hemisphere when the Earth passes by way of particles left by the comet 8P/Tuttle.
Daily after the winter solstice will develop longer within the northern hemisphere till its summer time solstice, or the longest day of the yr, between June 20 and 22.
Solstice comes from a Latin phrase translating to “solar stands nonetheless”.
When is the winter solstice?
This shortest day of the yr will happen on December 22, whereas the precise second of the solstice will happen at 03:27 GMT – at this level, the Earth’s axis will probably be furthest from the solar.
This shift in axial tilts because the Earth orbits across the solar permits the world to expertise various levels of daylight on totally different days. In any other case, the solar would stay instantly above the equator and shed the identical quantity of sunshine on the Earth all year long.
Is it additionally the summer time solstice within the southern hemisphere?
The summer solstice within the southern hemisphere happens similtaneously the winter solstice within the northern hemisphere.
Seasons of the northern and southern hemispheres are reversed, so international locations akin to Brazil and New Zealand will probably be experiencing the longest day of the yr.
The winter solstice within the northern hemisphere can happen between December 20 to 23 however typically falls on December 21 or 22.
The final time it occurred on December 23 was in 1903, whereas its subsequent look on that date will probably be in 2303.
Three fascinating info about winter solstice
- Though the solstice is alleged to mark the astronomical begin of winter, the winter season or its meteorological first day happens on a special date and is predicated on temperature data.
- Standing exterior at midday on December 22 will forged the longest shadow of your entire yr.
- In the mean time of the winter solstice, the solar seems instantly over the Tropic of Capricorn, which is positioned 23 levels south of the equator.
What’s winter solstice celebrated for?
A number of cultures have fun the winter solstice in numerous methods which tends to be rooted in nearly supernatural or folkloric significance of the day in historical occasions. As we speak, we perceive the occasion in additional scientific phrases however folks proceed to take pleasure in outdated traditions.
For historical folks, the gradual enhance in sunlight hours after winter solstice marked a time of rebirth.
Folks in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden maintain a multiday feast to have fun Juul, or Xmas, when historical folks would welcome the return of the Solar God. Scandinavians burn a Xmas log to honour the God Thor, who was tasked with returning the solar’s heat.
In Finnish fable, the waning daylight within the lead-up to the winter solstice is attributable to a robust and evil witch that holds the solar and the moon captive inside a mountain.
For folks in Iran, winter solstice or the “Yalda competition” marks the day when Mithra, an angel of sunshine, was thought to have been born.
In China, winter solstice is the “Dongzhi competition” when winter’s darkness begins to present approach to gentle. Households eat particular meals akin to rice balls known as tang yuan.
In the UK, folks go to Stonehenge to catch the rays of the dawn as they fall between the stones.