The Winter Solstice

Today—at precisely 4:21 am Eastern Time—the Northern Hemisphere experiences the Winter Solstice.   For those of us living above the Equator, 4:21 am is the moment of the year when the Northern Hemisphere will be tilted its farthest distance from the Sun. Today we'll see the shortest amount of daylight of the year, the longest amount of night, and it will be the first day of Winter.  (In the Southern Hemisphere, today will be the longest day of the year, the shortest night, and the first day of Summer.)   The best news: starting tomorrow, each consecutive day's period of daylight will be increasingly longer and longer.

We learn in grade school that the Earth rotates on an imaginary axis—which runs from the North Pole to the South Pole.  This axis "bobbles" throughout the year—each end tipping toward and away from the Sun on an annual cycle.  The part of the Earth which is tilted away from the Sun becomes colder and darker.  The other part of the Earth, which is tilted toward the Sun, is warmer and lighter.

Shown above, a Danish Modernist polar bear sculpture—made of ceramic stoneware and finished with a frosty white glaze.  He was made in the Sixties or Seventies and he seems to enjoy the cold.  Click on the photo above to learn more about this handsome creature.