Winter Solstice, ×åéìåñéíü Çë Options

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Winter Solstice

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The date we arranged the forum meeting is 22nd December, which is also the Winter Solstice, the longest night in the Northern semisphere ( and the longest day for the southern )

Well, i did a little research on that date !




Illumination of Earth by Sun on the day of the northern hemisphere winter solstice



Illumination of Earth by Sun on the day of the southern hemisphere winter solstice

In astronomy, the winter solstice is the moment when the earth is at a point in its orbit where one hemisphere is most inclined away from the Sun. This causes the Sun to appear at its farthest below the celestial equator when viewed from the northern hemisphere. Solstice is a Latin

borrowing and means "sun stand still", referring to the appearance that
the Sun's noontime elevation change stops its progress, either
northerly or southerly. The day of the winter solstice is the shortest
day and the longest night of the year.

In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice usually falls on December 21/December 22, which is the southern hemisphere's summer solstice. At this time, the Sun appears over the Tropic of Capricorn, roughly 23.5 degrees South of the earth's equator. In the southern hemisphere, winter solstice falls on June 21/June 22, which is the northern hemisphere's summer solstice. At this time, the Sun appears over the Tropic of Cancer.

Since the winter solstice, summer solstice, vernal equinox, and autumnal equinox
were probably observed for the first time by people in the northern
hemisphere, these naming conventions originally corresponded to the
northern hemisphere's seasons. In most reckonings, the winter solstice is midwinter.

In Ireland's calendars, the solstices and equinoxes all occur at about midpoint in each season. For example, winter begins on November 1, and ends on January 31. The passage and chamber of Newgrange,
a tomb in Ireland, are illuminated by the winter solstice sunrise. A
shaft of sunlight shines through the roof box over the entrance and
penetrates the passage to light up the chamber. The dramatic event
lasts for 17 minutes at dawn from the 19th to the 23rd of December.

In the Chinese calendar, the winter solstice too marks midwinter and is called dōng zhì (冬至, "winter's extreme"). It is traditionally regarded as one of the year's most important jiéqìs (solar terms), comparable to Chinese New Year. Rather confusingly, the character zhì may also mean "arrival" in other contexts, but it is clear that the Chinese consider "winter's arrival" (立冬, lì dōng, literally "establishment of winter") to be a separate jiéqì which falls on or around November 7 instead.

The winter solstice is the time when the Germanic festival of Yule was celebrated; it is celebrated today as a Neopagan Sabbat. Many cultures celebrate or celebrated a holiday near (within a few days) the winter solstice; examples of these include Yalda, Saturnalia, Christmas, Karachun, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Zamenhof Day. (See also List of winter festivals). The first civilization to celebrate the winter solstice were the Ancient Persians, deriving from their Zoroastrian religion.

Through an interesting coincidence in the Earth's orbit, the
northern hemisphere's winter occurs roughly when the sun is actually closest to the earth (Perihelion is actually on or about January 4).
Conversely, the northern summer is when the sun is farthest from the
earth. But the distance from the sun doesn't affect the seasons on
Earth to a measurable amount, since Earth's eliptical orbit is almost
circular. In general it's the angle of the sun's rays and the number of
hours of light per day that actually affects the seasons in most
regions on the planet.

THE PERFECT DAY TO MEET !

Source : Wikipedia