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| A bonfire at sunset |
The winter solstice will occur on December 22 at 5:30 am Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Also known as the December solstice in the northern hemisphere and the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere.
The winter solstice occurs when the sun reaches its most southernly declination of -23.5 degrees. Put another way, it is when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun.
Above a latitude of 66.5° N all locations will be in darkness while locations below a latitude of 66.5° S will receive 24 hours of daylight.
Along the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere the sun will be directly overhead. This is also the longest day of the year for those living south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Those traveling south of the Antarctic Circle towards the South Pole will experience the midnight sun.
Conversely, for those of us living north of the Tropic of Cancer. December 22 will mark the day of the year with the least hours of daylight.
The solstice makes for some interesting sun shots as the sun is so low on the horizon. On December 22 we will experience only a little over 10 hours of daylight and the sun will rise to only 38.1° around 12:30 in the afternoon.
After December 22 the days will gradually lengthen in the Northern Hemisphere and the sun angle will slowly climb. By June 21, 2012 the sun will rise to 84.9° (nearly directly overhead) and our days will be almost 14 hours long.
Despite the low sun angles and short days temperatures have remained quite warm across the Florida peninsula through December in sharp contrast to what we experienced the past two Decembers.
Some marine showers are brushing the Florida east coast today. Otherwise it is an extremely warm and sunny day.
Though the calendar shows today to be the first day of winter, temperatures around East Central Florida continue to be unseasonably warm with afternoon highs today in the low 80°s F (28° C).
The warm weather this December (over Florida) is currently forecast to continue through the New Years holiday.
The solstice may have been a special moment of the annual cycle of the year even during neolithic times. Astronomical events, which during ancient times controlled the mating of animals, planting of crops, and metering of winter reserves, show how various cultural mythologies and traditions have arisen.
Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites such as Stonehenge in Britain and Newgrange in Ireland appear to have been constructed to honor the solstice. They set the primary axes of their monuments on sight-lines pointing to the winter solstice (Newgrange) and the winter solstice sunset (Stonehenge).
The solstice may have been immensely important because communities were not certain of living through the winter. Starvation was common in winter (between January and April).
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| Sunrise at Stonehenge on the winter solstice |
Direct observation of the solstice by amateurs is difficult because the sun moves too slowly at either solstice to determine its specific day, let alone the instant it occurs.
Before the scientific revolution many forms of observances, astronomical, symbolic or ritualistic evolved according to the beliefs of various cultures, many of which are still practiced today.
More about winter solstice celebrations LINK.
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