Celebrate the Winter Solstice!
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| Winter sun at Gifford Woods State Park |
Thursday December 21 is the shortest day of
2017, the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. There is optimism in
knowing we will are gaining more sunlight in our days after this darkest day.
This is reason to celebrate even if you are not a big fan of wintertime.
The seasons we experience are caused by the
tilt of the Earth and not by the proximity of the Earth to the sun. We are
closer to the sun during our winter months, but the Northern Hemisphere is
tilted away from the sun during winter and that is why our days are shorter and
our temperatures are lower.
The tilt of the Earth was caused by the planet
colliding with huge space junk billions of years ago when it was forming. The
tilt causes us to get less direct sunlight from September to March, and more
sunlight than the Southern Hemisphere from April to August. On our Winter
Solstice, our neighbors in the Southern Hemisphere are celebrating their Summer
Solstice and their longest day of the year.
The Winter Solstice marks the astronomical
beginning of winter, but meteorologists determine winter begins December 1,
because that is the reliable start of wintery weather. Either side you take on
the start date of the winter season, we can all agree it is definitely winter
in Vermont.
Winter Solstice is determined by the exact
time the sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, or 23.5° South Latitude.
This happens at 11:28am on Thursday December 21st. If you cannot make it to
Stonehenge this year with other revelers, there are some other excellent places
to welcome more sunlight into your days. Take a hike up Mt. Olga in Molly Stark
State Park, Owl’s Head in Groton State Forest, or along the shores in Button
Bay State Park. Or go to your favorite outdoor place and greet the Solstice in
the great outdoors with a thermos of hot chocolate and warm thoughts knowing
more sunlight is headed your way.
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