Published 17:08 IST, December 23rd 2019
Stunning photos celebrating winter solstice show beauty of first day of winter
People on social media are sharing stunning photos as they celebrated winter solstice on December 22. Winter solstice marks the longest night of the year.
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December 22 was marked as the shortest day of the year and was the first day of winter as solstice officially happened late night on December 21 in North America and early morning on December 22 in Europe. For many, it feels like winter has been around forever but officially it was on December 22 when winter started this year and the season will last till March 20.
Winter solstice
A solstice is an event when the sun appears to reach the most northerly or southerly point causing the longest night or day of the year. Solstices occur two times a year, once in June (summer solstice) and once in December (winter solstice). The Arctic circle doesn't see the light of the sun for 24 hours on the day of the winter solstice, while in Antarctica, it won't get dark for 24 hours. To celebrate the special event that occurs annually, people were sharing beautiful images on social media.
Happy #WinterSolstice!
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) December 21, 2019
To celebrate, we collected an image per day over the last year from #GOESEast, taken at 1200 UTC, and looped them together. You can really see how the seasons change from #equinox to #solstice due to the #Earth's 23.5° tilt. pic.twitter.com/KKcwjX1QjW
Happy Winter Solstice! The day length at Alaska's Selawik National #WildlifeRefuge today is just 1 hour 43 minutes. Here’s what the landscape looked like last December 20 at *about 1:30 pm* near the refuge, which straddles the Arctic Circle https://t.co/p7eqqNm98G
— USFWS Refuge System (@USFWSRefuges) December 21, 2019
📷: Deb Lawton pic.twitter.com/3zGWbgvg60
Happy #FirstDayofWinter - today marks the Winter Solstice! This means the sun appears at its most southerly point causing the longest night of the year. Come celebrate with us today for some #winter science! pic.twitter.com/2y7N6wgZA5
— SF Science Center (@SFScienceCenter) December 21, 2019
Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere & the first day of winter! What causes our planet’s shift in seasons? Its tilt. Today, Earth’s Northern Hemisphere is at its most-tilted away from the Sun. [📸: Jon Bunting] pic.twitter.com/gLLQLyEPri
— American Museum of Natural History (@AMNH) December 21, 2019
15:41 IST, December 23rd 2019