The Science Behind the Longest Night of the Year: There is only one night that is longer than any other in the year: the Winter Solstice. Why doesn’t it happen in January, in the middle of winter?
The actual start of winter is on December 21, which is the Winter Solstice. However, many people will say that the freezing is proof that winter has been here for a long time…
The Science Behind the Longest Night of the Year
In the northern hemisphere, it happens when the Sun is farthest south in the sky. This makes the day with the fewest hours of daylight, which makes the night seem even longer. For the longest day in the summer, it’s the other way around.
It takes place in December because Earth doesn’t go around the Sun in a perfect circle and isn’t perfectly lined up to face our star. As the Earth spins on its axis, 24.44, it looks like it’s taking it easy and enjoying the sun.
When the shortest day is will depend on your latitude, but the trend will always be the same: the earliest sunset, the smallest day, and the latest morning.
An easy way to see the event is to look at your noon shadow. It will be longer because the Sun’s light has to travel farther behind you at this point. Instead of the height of summer, when your shadow would be shorter. Any stable item that stays in place will show the same trend.
Winter Solstice Wonders: Exploring the Southern Hemisphere’s Celestial Event
How does it make people feel?
In old cultures and cultures that see the Sun as a godly body rather than a tightly packed ball of gas, the shortest day and the Solstice were very important events.
Mesopotamia (Iraq), Persia (Iran), Babylon, Ancient Greece, and Rome all enjoyed the months of December and January because they thought it marked the Sun’s victory over darkness and was a sign of good luck and gifts.
