Winter solstice at last!
December 22, 2005
The twenty-second day of December is always a big day for me. Although I won’t really notice it for another month or two, starting today the days will be getting longer, and the sun will be riding a tad higher in the sky each day until the June 21 summer solstice.
Answers.com tells me that the sun is heading back toward the equator at long last.
solstice (sŏl’stĭs) [Lat.,=sun stands still], in astronomy, either of the two points on the ecliptic that lie midway between the equinoxes (separated from them by an angular distance of 90°). At the solstices the sun’s apparent position on the celestial sphere reaches its greatest distance above or below the celestial equator (see equatorial coordinate system), about 231/2° of arc. At the time of summer solstice, about June 22, the sun is directly overhead at noon at the Tropic of Cancer (see tropics). In the Northern Hemisphere the longest day and shortest night of the year occur on this date, marking the beginning of summer. At winter solstice, about Dec. 22, the sun is overhead at noon at the Tropic of Capricorn; this marks the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. For several days before and after each solstice the sun appears to stand still in the sky, i.e., its noontime elevation does not seem to change from day to day.
So there you have it. Here at about 40 degrees north latitude, the sun rises at 7:23 and sets at 4:43, giving us only 9 hours and 20 minutes of daylight, with the sun rising to only a little less than 27 degrees above the horizon at solar noon. At least there is very little risk of sunburn and skin cancer.
Major league baseball spring training is only a couple months away.
Dave, heading back into hibernation.
Comments
Got something to say?
