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The Winter Solstice The winter solstice occurs in in 2009 on Sunday, December 21, at 9:47am PST; 17:47 UT, when the Sun enters the sign of Capricorn. This is considered the shortest day of the year for those north of the equator. It's the time when the Sun appears at its southernmost point in its path around the sky. At this time the Sun has the least amount of distance to travel from horizon to horizon, hence the shorter the day. Solstice means "Sun stands still." The Sun's path stops shifting far south in the winter and stands still readying itself to move northward (vice versa in summer). The
Sun and Moon at the Winter Solstice The Paths of the Sun and Moon At the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere the Sun's annual path across the sky is at its lowest, or closest to the southern horizon, while the Moon's path is at its highest north. The Sun and Moon appear to reverse positions at the summer solstice with the Sun at its highest north and the Moon at it's lowest south. Image Within each month the Moon has a northern and southern range of moonrise / set points. It is at its highest one day and two weeks later at its lowest. It takes the Sun one year to accomplish this range of movement. This occurs because the Moon makes a full orbit around the Earth each month and follows a similar path across the sky that takes the Sun a year to complete.
Does the Sun always rise in the east? This photo by Anthony Ayiomamitis shows the wide swing of the rising Sun. In Athens, Greece the sunrise from southeast to northeast varies by more than 65 degrees. The Sun rises due east only at the time of the spring and autumn equinox. Sun's Seasonal Path Hmmm ... Why are there 7 shortest days?!?! San Francisco Sun Data for December 2009 shows there are 7 shortest days, each with 9 hours and 33 minutes of daylight, between December 18–24! This occurs because the declination of the Sun changes or varies only slightly during the solstices. The analemma, an unsymmetrical figure-8 shape of the Sun’s daily position at the same time, illustrates this concept with its flattening at both ends. The length of daylight (as measured in minutes) is pretty much the same for several days or more, both at the winter and also the summer solstice. If you were to do the calculations down to the exact second of time, then the shortest amount of daylight would coincide with the time of the solstice. Thank-you James Davis and Joe Rao / NightSky Feature for these valued insights.
Spiritual Significance of the Winter Solstice Global Meditations ~ Winter Solstice Planetary
Solstice Meditation The Spiritual
Hierarchy enters meditation in
Global
Solstice Meditation This
beautiful meditation includes
Global
Solstice Sunrise Meditation Participants
in this World Unity Celebration
Global
Minute for Peace Day Unite
as one human family and use the power of Spirit
Worldwide
Didgeridoo Meditation This
meditation is a worldwide link-up of people
Candle
Night Winter Solstice 2009 Candle
Night is a biannual event that has Current and Ongoing Global Meditations
I'd
like to know your thoughts about The Night Sky and
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