Shortest Day of the Year: Winter Solstice Arrives on 21 December 2024
Understanding the Winter Solstice
The 2024 winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, happens on Saturday, Dec. 21, in the Northern Hemisphere. This astronomical milestone marks a significant moment when the solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year for billions of people living north of the equator.
The exact timing of the Winter Solstice, which lasts only a moment, and official changing of seasons occurred on Saturday (Dec. 21) at 4:20 a.m. EST (0920 GMT), though the event itself is observed throughout the day. Despite common belief, the solstice actually lasts just a moment rather than spanning an entire calendar day.
The Science Behind the Shortest Day
The phenomenon occurs due to Earth’s axial tilt. During the winter solstice, the sun will be at its lowest noontime point in the sky for 2024 because it’s when the northern half of the Earth is tilted its farthest away from the sun due to the planet’s axis. This positioning creates dramatically reduced daylight hours across the Northern Hemisphere.
The Northern Hemisphere will see less than 12 hours of daylight while the southern half of the Earth basks in daylight longer than 12 hours, creating opposite seasonal experiences on different sides of the planet. Interestingly, whilst 21 December brings the shortest day, the earliest sunset and latest sunrise do not occur on the day of the solstice itself. Instead, the earliest sunset occurs a couple of weeks beforehand, and the latest sunrise is a couple of weeks later.
Looking Forward: Brighter Days Ahead
The winter solstice represents both an ending and a beginning. Each day after the solstice, we get one minute more of sunlight. This gradual increase may seem modest initially, but after just two months, or around 60 days, we’ll be seeing about an hour more of sunlight.
Humans have been celebrating the winter solstice for thousands of years. Ancient civilizations built landmarks like Stonehenge in England and Torreon at Machu Picchu, Peru, to track the sun’s movements, demonstrating the enduring significance of this astronomical event. For modern observers, the shortest day serves as a reminder that even in the darkest moments, the return of light is inevitable, offering hope and renewal as we move towards spring.