Winter solstice always feels like turning the corner
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Tonight at 11:30 PM (CST) the Winter Solstice occurs. Â It’s an astronomical event that always perks me up. Â What is Winter Solstice, other than some pagan holiday that probably had a lot to do with the placement of Christmas on December 25?
According to TimeandDate.com:
“The December solstice occurs when the sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.5 degrees. In other words, it is when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun. Depending on the Gregorian calendar, the December solstice occurs annually on a day between December 20 and December 23. On this date, all places above a latitude of 66.5 degrees north (Arctic Polar Circle) are now in darkness, while locations below a latitude of 66.5 degrees south (Antarctic Polar Circle) receive 24 hours of daylight.”
What does that mean to those of us who just look at the sky? Â The day before the solstice (today, December 21) Â has the shortest period of daylight of any day of the year. Â From there on, daylight hours get longer for the next 6 months. Â Hope for us who have the tendency toward S.A.D.
