Winter Solstice 2023: When exactly will the Winter season start?
To mark the winter solstice, which is also known as the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, thousands of people will take part in a wide range of rituals and activities.
This year, the winter solstice comes on December 21 in the U.S. and on December 22 in Europe. This is the astronomical start of winter, but in meteorological terms, winter starts in early December and lasts until February.
The winter solstice is also the day in which the earth’s tilt away from the sun is at a maximum, making the lack of direct sunlight notable.
Fascination with the movement of the sun has led people to the construction of monuments like Stonehenge in England and Newgrange in Ireland, where today, thousands of people will flock to as the solstice arrives.
Every year, in June and December, the solstices officially mark the start of each new season. The winter solstice is the day when the sun rises over the Tropic of Capricorn and sets there.
A line that is 23.5 degrees south of the equator and goes through Chile, Australia, and other places. It is the line that is farthest from the sun. Because of the distance, it is darker and there is less light.