The shortest day of the year is descending on the Northern Hemisphere. Here's what to know

Sunday marks the shortest time of the twelvemonth successful the Northern Hemisphere, signaling the commencement of astronomical winter

Yes the darkest time of the twelvemonth is here, but that means brighter days are ahead.

Sunday is the shortest time of the twelvemonth northbound of the equator, wherever the solstice marks the commencement of astronomical winter. It’s the other successful the Southern Hemisphere, wherever it is the longest time of the twelvemonth and summertime volition start.

The connection “solstice” comes from the Latin words “sol” for prima and “stitium” which tin mean “pause” oregon “stop.” The solstice is an extremity of the sun’s yearly march higher oregon little successful the sky. The wintertime solstice is erstwhile the prima makes its shortest, lowest arc. The bully quality for prima lovers: It past starts climbing again and days volition get a small longer each time until precocious June.

People person marked solstices for eons with celebrations and monuments specified arsenic Stonehenge, which was designed to align with the sun’s paths astatine the solstices. But what is happening successful the heavens? Here’s what to cognize astir the Earth’s orbit.

As the Earth travels astir the sun, it does truthful astatine an angle, making the sun's warmth and airy autumn unequally connected the bluish and confederate halves of the satellite for astir of the year.

The solstices people the times erstwhile the Earth's tilt toward oregon distant from the prima is astatine its maximum. This means the hemispheres are getting precise antithetic amounts of sunlight — and days and nights are astatine their astir unequal.

At the Northern Hemisphere's wintertime solstice the precocious fractional of the Earth is astatine its furthest thin distant from the prima — starring to the shortest time and longest nighttime of the year. The wintertime solstice falls tin autumn betwixt Dec. 20 and 23 — this twelvemonth it's the 21st.

The other happens astatine a Northern Hemisphere summertime solstice: The precocious fractional of the Earth is leaning toward the sun, creating the longest time and shortest nighttime of the year. This solstice falls betwixt June 20 and 22.

During the equinox, the Earth’s axis and its orbit align truthful that some hemispheres get an adjacent magnitude of sunlight.

The connection equinox comes from 2 Latin words meaning adjacent and night. That’s due to the fact that connected the equinox, time and nighttime past astir the aforesaid magnitude of clip — though 1 whitethorn get a fewer other minutes, depending connected wherever you are connected the planet.oo

The Northern Hemisphere’s autumn — oregon autumnal — equinox tin onshore betwixt Sept. 21 and 24, depending connected the year. Its outpouring — oregon vernal — equinox tin onshore betwixt March 19 and 21.

These are conscionable 2 antithetic ways to carve up the year.

While astronomical seasons beryllium connected however the Earth moves astir the sun, meteorological seasons are defined by the weather. Meteorologists interruption down the twelvemonth into three-month seasons based connected yearly somesthesia cycles. By that calendar, outpouring starts connected March 1, summertime connected June 1, autumn connected Sept. 1 and wintertime connected Dec. 1.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives enactment from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely liable for each content.

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