Don’t worry, the shortest day of the year is closer than you think

Although celebrated as a sacred time in ancient cultures, the winter solstice continues to hold significance today to mark the start of winter.

The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, marking the time when there are the fewest hours of daylight. It also represents the longest night of the year and the time when the sun is at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky.

The word “solstice” comes from groundthe Latin word for sun, and sisterwhich means “to stop or stand.”

While the southern hemisphere celebrates the start of summer, those north of the equator will experience its opposite, the first day of winter. This year it falls on Saturday, December 21 at 9:21 a.m., while the sun is expected to set at 3:51 p.m.

This means there will be 7 hours 49 minutes and 42 seconds of daylight. This means it is 8 hours and 49 minutes shorter than the June solstice.

While this means the day will likely be dark and dreary, the good news is that it also means the days will gradually get longer, with more hours of daylight leading up to the peak of the summer solstice.

The variation occurs because the Earth orbits the sun at an angle of 23.4 degrees on its axis, according to the Royal Museums Greenwich.

During warmer periods, the North Pole is tilted toward the sun in the Northern Hemisphere, meaning longer daylight hours, while the Southern Hemisphere experiences the opposite. In winter, the situation is reversed as the North Pole moves away from the sun towards the northern hemisphere.

Arriving on the same day across the globe, a solstice occurs when the sun reaches its lowest or highest point in the sky during the year due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis toward or away from the sun.

For the southern hemisphere, it is the opposite case, since December 21 is the day of the year with the longest period of sunshine.

Historically, the winter solstice has held great significance for many cultures, such as ancient Egypt and ancient Rome, often as a marker of the passing of the seasons and an eventual period of rebirth.

In northern Europe, from the Faroe Islands to Estonia, Germanic peoples have long celebrated this event, now known as Christmas.

While Christmas dates back to the Nordic peoples, who celebrated the rebirth of the sun for 12 days, it was also celebrated by pagan Anglo-Saxons.

According to Pliny the Elder, in Britain, Druid priests marked this important date by gathering mistletoe and sacrificing bulls – which was probably also a practical measure to limit the number of mouths to feed during the months of famine.