Winter solstice

In astronomy, the winter solstice is the moment when the earth is in a point of its orbit at which the northern hemisphere is most inclined away from the sun. This causes the sun to appear at its farthest below the celestial equator when viewed from earth. In fact on the winter solstice the sun appears over the Tropic of Capricorn, roughly 23.5 degrees South of the celestial equator. Solstice is a Latin borrowing and means "sun stand", referring to the appearance that the sun's noontime elevation change stops its progress, either northerly or southerly.

Related Topics:
Astronomy - Solstice - Earth - Orbit - Hemisphere - Sun - Celestial equator - Latin

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The date of the winter solstice is the date with the shortest day and the longest night of the year. In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice usually falls on December 21/December 22. Since the winter solstice, summer solstice, vernal equinox, and autumnal equinox were probably observed for the first time by people in the northern hemisphere, these naming conventions originally corresponded to the northern hemisphere's seasons. In the southern hemisphere, the corresponding date is in fact the summer solstice, i.e. the longest day and shortest night, and is as such the start of summer. Winter solstice for the southern hemisphere usually falls on June 21/June 22 instead.

Related Topics:
Northern hemisphere - December 21 - December 22 - Summer solstice - Vernal equinox - Autumnal equinox - Season - Summer - June 21 - June 22

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In most reckonings, the winter solstice is midwinter. In Ireland, the solstices and equinoxes all occur at about midpoint in each season. For example, winter begins on November 1, and ends on January 31. How is that? I believed that seasons began the same day at the same hour in the whole (nothern or southern) hemisphere.

Related Topics:
Midwinter - Ireland - Equinoxes - Season - November 1 - January 31

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In the Chinese calendar, the winter solstice is called dōng zhì (冬至, "winter's extreme") and is traditionally regarded as one of the year's most important Jiéqìs, comparable to Chinese New Year. Rather confusingly, the character 至 may also mean "arrival" in other contexts, but it is clear that the Chinese consider "winter's arrival" (立冬 lì dōng, literally "establishment of winter") to be a separate Jiéqì which falls on or around November 7 instead.

Related Topics:
Chinese calendar - Dōng zhì - Jiéqì - Chinese New Year - November 7

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The winter solstice is the time when the Germanic festival of Yule was celebrated; it is celebrated today as a Neopagan Sabbat. Many cultures celebrate or celebrated a holiday near (within a few days) the winter solstice; examples of these include Yalda, Saturnalia, Christmas, Karachun, Hanukkah, Festivus, Kwanzaa, and HumanLight. In her fiction, Ursula K. Le Guin calls the solstice celebration "The Festival of Sunreturn". (See also List of winter festivals)

Related Topics:
Germanic - Yule - Neopagan - Sabbat - Yalda - Saturnalia - Christmas - Karachun - Hanukkah - Festivus - Kwanzaa - HumanLight - Ursula K. Le Guin - List of winter festivals

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