All you need to know about the shortest day of the year – the winter solstice
EVERY December, the winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year.
The precise date and time changes. This year, the exact moment of the winter solstice in the UK is 9:21am on Saturday 21st December.
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It is calculated as the time when the sun is over the Tropic of Capricorn.
During the winter solstice, the northern hemisphere is tilted the furthest it gets from the sun.
What is the winter solstice?
It’s widely known that the winter solstice marks the shortest day in the northern hemisphere.
It also marks the first day of winter in the astronomical calendar.
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That’s not to be confused with the meteorological calendar, which considers 1st December to be the start of winter.
What happens on the winter solstice?
On this day, the northern hemisphere has its least number of daylight hours.
There are 7 hours and 49 minutes between sunrise and sunset.
Meanwhile, there are 16.5 hours of daylight on the summer solstice.
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Areas north of the Arctic Circle experience 24 hours of darkness, and areas south of the Antarctic Circle get 24 hours of sunlight.
Check out your shadow at noon, it’s the longest it’ll be all year.
Where does the name come from?
The word “solstice” comes from the Latin words “sol” and “sistere” meaning “sun” and “to stand still”.
This is because the sun has reached its lowest point in the sky.
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From now on, until the summer solstice, its highest point will increase each day.
This means that it seems to stay still for a few days while its progress through the sky changes direction, passing over the apex of its curve trajectory.
How is the winter solstice celebrated?
For thousands of years, cultures around the world have appreciated that the solstice marks the start of lighter days.
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It’s been celebrated as a time of supernatural wonder and rebirth; humanity stepping out of the darkness of winter.
In Scandinavia, the Feast of Juul (Yule) was a pre-Christian tradition observed around the winter solstice.
Fires were lit to symbolise the heat and light that would come in the following seasons.
A Yule log would be brought in and burned on the hearth in honour of Thor.
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The Romans had the festival of Saturnalia, to honour Saturn (the king of the gods).
There were banquets, gift exchanging and masquerades. Business, trade, schools and law courts were closed.
Wars were interrupted or postponed and slaves were served by their masters.
Countries such as Turkey and Iran celebrate Yaldā Night (Night of Forty).
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It is one of the most important festivals of the year.
Families gather for food and poetry reading. Red fruits such as pomegranates and watermelons symbolise the cycle of life and health.
Japanese tradition calls for celebrating the winter solstice (tōji) in a number of ways.
That includes taking a “yuzu-yu”, which is a hot bath with yuzu (a winter fruit the size of a small lemon).
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The bath is said to help ward off bad spirits and stop you catching a cold.
Which sites do people visit on the winter solstice?
People flock to certain sites on the solstice.
These sites are said to have a special significance on the shortest day.
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The list includes:
- Stonehenge, England
Why do people go to Stonehenge on the solstice? No one knows for sure why Stonehenge was built.
However, what has been observed is that the stones were shaped and constructed to uniquely mark the summer solstice sunrise and winter solstice sunset.
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- Newgrange, Ireland
Outside Dublin there’s a Neolithic passage tomb that’s older than Stonehenge.
It has been constructed in such a way that the light from the winter solstice sunrise perfectly hits an opening in the wall, flooding the chamber within in light.
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