Early Saturday morning, the occurrence of the 2024 winter solstice marked the astronomical start of winter, and it’s been greeted with appropriately frigid temperatures.
The event also marked the shortest day of the year, where sunrise and sunset times are the closest together that they will be, opposite to the longest day of the year, which occurs near the summer solstice.
The first day of astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere is marked by the winter solstice, which for 2024 took place on Saturday, Dec 21.
As the Earth travels around the sun, it does so at an angle. For most of the year, the Earth’s axis is tilted either toward or away from the sun.
That means the sun’s warmth and light fall unequally on the northern and southern halves of the planet.
The solstices mark the times during the year when the Earth is at its most extreme tilt toward or away from the sun.
This means the hemispheres are getting very different amounts of sunlight — and days and nights are at their most unequal. During the Northern Hemisphere’s winter solstice, the upper half of the Earth is tilted away from the sun, creating the shortest day and longest night of the year.The winter solstice falls between Dec 20 and 23. (Agencies)