Winter Solstice 2019: When and What It Is, Everything You Need to Know

The word solstice comes from Latin words sol and sistere, and sol means ‘sun’, while sister means ‘to stand still. This means, that before and after the solstice, the Sun appears as if it isn’t moving in its path, and its noon elevation is the slightest. Winter solstice essentially occurs when the Earth pole has its maximum tilt away from the Sun. It happens two times in a year – once in the northern hemisphere and once in the southern hemisphere. As mentioned, it is also considered as the shortest day of the year for that hemisphere, and marks the beginning of winter. At this time, the Sun is at its most southerly point. Symbolically, it is marked as the death and rebirth of the Sun.

This year, winter solstice will be on December 22. The actual moment of the solstice will occur around 9.49am in India. According to Time and Date, this day is 3 hours, 39 minutes shorter than on June solstice. In the US, the actual moment of solstice will occur December 21 at 11:19pm EST. Most people like to the focus on the solstice day, and is recognised in many regions as a festival or a holiday. As mentioned, winter solstice is considered to be the shortest day and the longest night of the year, in that hemisphere, and after that, the days start to become longer, and nights start to get shorter. When summer solstice occurs, the daylight hours is at its peak, and the dark hours are the shortest.

You can see a few signs around you, for instance, the length of day time will reduce where dawns are late and sunsets are early.You will also notice the low arc of the suc across the sky above you, especially at noon, when the sun appears low in the sky. Your noontime shadow should also be the longest on that day. Folks living in the southern hemisphere should see the shortest noontime shadow.