welcome to formal beginning astronomical wintermarked by the winter solstice.
In 2024, the Northern Hemisphere’s winter solstice begins on the following day: December 21st around 4:20am (EST). This time it won’t be as dramatic as 2020, but conjunction of jupiter and saturnthe longest night of the year remains an important turning point. From now on, the days (meaning daylight hours) will gradually start to get longer again.
Curious why this happens? WIRED interviewed tans dylanis a former postdoctoral researcher on MIT’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to better understand the relationship between the winter solstice and our planet and the Sun.
To imagine what’s happening in space during the winter solstice, first picture a giant glass globe surrounding the Earth. Let’s ignore the rotation of the planets (which complicates everything). “If we look at the three-dimensional sphere around us, known as the celestial sphere, the sun and all other objects in the solar system move through a plane within this sphere known as the ecliptic plane,” Dr. Daylan said. ”.
“While doing so, the sun changes its declination,” he says. Declination and right ascension These are the two principal axes of the celestial sphere. “In this frame of reference, the sun is at its southernmost position at the winter solstice from our perspective in the Northern Hemisphere.”
The winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere occurs when the North Pole is tilted farthest from the Sun. The Arctic Circle is plunged into darkness and experiences the longest night of the year. In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs at the same time that the South Pole tilts toward the sun and the Antarctic Circle experiences the summer solstice. midnight sun.
NASA’s online spaceflight basics tutorial includes: With illustration of the celestial sphere For those who want to explore ideas more deeply.
When the sun is at a low position on the winter solstice, shadow of midday becomes abnormally long. The summer solstice is important to humans, but it has little meaning to the macrocosm.
“The summer solstice is defined with respect to the Earth-Sun system, and not necessarily with respect to the solar system as a whole. The sun is very sacred to us, and its position on the celestial sphere as a function of time throughout the year. We give the sun a lot of meaning because it’s so important,” Daylan says. “It determines the climate. It tells us throughout the year when crops will mature. So this is very important, especially for historical civilizations.”
It’s time to celebrate
from Yuzu bath In Japan Inti Raymi celebration Cultures around the world, like Peru, have a long history of celebrating the winter solstice. Modern druids and archaeologists in Britain continue to focus on the Stonehenge monument during this period. Although the two groups’ interests may sometimes align, they often disagree on issues such as the display of exhibits. Human remains found at Stonehenge.
Below you can watch a livestream of the sunrise broadcast from Stonehenge on YouTube during the winter solstice.
