Winter solstice 2020: The shortest day is long according to old traditions

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(CNN) – For six months, the days have become shorter and the nights longer in the Northern Hemisphere. But that’s going to reverse itself.

Winter solstice 2020, the shortest day of the year and the official start of winter, is on Monday, December 21. How it all works has fascinated people for thousands of years.

First, we’ll look at the science and the precise timing behind the solstice. Afterward, we’ll discover some ancient traditions and celebrations around the world (although many of the 2020 celebrations will be canceled or adjusted for the pandemic). And finally, we will learn about a delicious show in the sky especially for the winter solstice 2020.

The Science and Timing Behind a Winter Solstice

The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, when the sun appears at its southernmost position, directly over the remote Tropic of Capricorn.

In the southern hemisphere the situation is reversed. There, the December solstice marks the longest day of the year – and the start of summer in places like Argentina, Australia and South Africa.

These three images from NOAA's GOES East (GOES-16) satellite show us what Earth looks like from space near the winter solstice. The images were taken about 24 hours before the 2018 winter solstice.

These three images from NOAA’s GOES East (GOES-16) satellite show us what Earth looks like from space near the winter solstice. The images were taken about 24 hours before the 2018 winter solstice.

NOAA

When exactly does it occur?

The solstice usually – but not always – takes place on December 21. The time that the solstice takes place and the day itself shifts because the solar year (the time it takes for the sun to reappear in the same place as seen from Earth) does not exactly match our calendar year.

– Tokyo: Monday 7:02 PM
– Bangkok: Monday 5:02 PM
– Dubai: Monday 2:02 pm
– Rome: Monday 11:02 AM
– Casablanca, Morocco: Monday 10:02 AM (same as UTC)
– Boston: Monday, 5:02 a.m.
– Vancouver: Monday 2:02 am
– Honolulu: Monday 12:02 PM

Which places see and feel the effects of the winter solstice the most?

Daylight decreases dramatically as you get closer to the North Pole on December 21.

People in sultry Singapore, just 137 kilometers or 85 miles north of the equator, barely notice the difference, with only nine minutes less daylight than during the summer solstice.
Much higher in latitude, Madrid, Spain, still logs in a respectable nine hours and 17 minutes of daylight during the winter solstice.
The House of the Books (Singer House) on Nevsky Avenue in St. Petersburg, Russia, is lit electrically. Sunshine is scarce here in the days leading up to the winter solstice.

The House of the Books (Singer House) on Nevsky Avenue in St. Petersburg, Russia, is lit electrically. Sunshine is scarce here in the days leading up to the winter solstice.

Alexander Demianchuk / TASS / Getty Images

The difference is greater in icy St. Petersburg, Russia, where the sun rises at 10:00 am and sets at 3:53 pm, resulting in less than six hours of anemic daylight.
Residents of Nome, Alaska, will get even more sunlight with just three hours, 54 minutes, and 33 seconds of very dim daylight. But that’s downright generous compared to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. It is located in the Arctic Circle and does not see any ray of daylight.

What makes the winter solstice even take place?

Because the Earth is tilted about its axis of rotation, we experience seasons here on Earth. As the Earth moves around the sun, each hemisphere experiences winter when it is tilted away from the sun and summer when it faces the sun.

Wait. Why is the Earth Tilted?

Scientists are not entirely sure how this happened, but they think that billions of years ago, when the solar system took shape, the Earth was subject to violent collisions that caused the axis to tilt.

What other seasonal transitions do we mark?

The equinoxes, both spring and fall, occur when the sun’s rays are directly above the equator. On those two days everyone has the same day and night. During the summer solstice, the sun’s rays are furthest north above the Tropic of Cancer, giving us our longest day and the official start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

Winter solstice traditions and celebrations

Decorated evergreen trees have roots that go back beyond the beginnings of Christianity to ancient Egypt and Rome.

Decorated evergreen trees have roots that go back beyond the beginnings of Christianity to ancient Egypt and Rome.

Shutterstock

It’s no surprise that many cultures and religions celebrate a holiday – whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or pagan festivals – that coincides with the return of longer days.

Ancient peoples whose survival depended on an accurate knowledge of seasonal cycles marked this first day of winter with elaborate ceremonies and celebrations. Spiritually, these celebrations symbolize the opportunity for renewal, letting go of bad habits and negative feelings, and embracing hope in the midst of darkness as the days grow longer again.

Lots of old symbols and ceremonies of the winter solstice live on today or are incorporated into newer traditions. Here are just a few:

Alban Arthan

In the Welsh language, “Alban Arthan” means “Light of Winter,” according to the Farmers Almanac. It is perhaps humanity’s oldest seasonal festival. Part of the Druid traditions, the winter solstice is considered a time of death and rebirth.

Saturnalia

In ancient Rome, Saturnalia began on December 17 and lasted for seven days. It honored Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture. The people enjoyed carnival-like festivities resembling modern Mardi Gras celebrations and even slowed down their warfare. Saturnalia continued into the third and fourth centuries AD.

As the Roman Empire came under Christian influence and eventually rule, some of the customs of the festival were fused into celebrations around Christmas and the New Year.

Dongzhi

It’s not just ancient Europeans who marked the annual occasion. The Dongzhi Winter Solstice Festival has its roots in ancient Chinese culture. The name roughly translates as “extreme of winter”.

They thought this was the apex of yin (from Chinese medicine theory). Yin stands for darkness and cold and silence, so the longest day of winter. Dongzhi marks the return of yang – and the slow rise of light and warmth. Dumplings are usually eaten to celebrate in some East Asian cultures.

Cancellations and Changed Celebrations

Festivals are held in honor of the winter solstice in many places around the world. But due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they have either been canceled for 2020 or changed to allow for a safe, socially distant opportunity.

Montol Festival

Better known for pirates than the solstice, the town of Penzance on England’s southwest coast has revived a wonderful array of Cornish solstice events leading up to the winter solstice. They have canceled events for 2020 but hope to resume in 2021, according to the festival’s Facebook page.
A choir sings in Stonehenge to mark the winter solstice. However, in-person visits will be canceled for 2020.

A choir sings in Stonehenge to mark the winter solstice. However, in-person visits will be canceled for 2020.

Ben Birchall / PA Images / Getty Images

Stonehenge

The UK’s most famous site for solstice celebrations is Stonehenge. During the winter solstice, visitors have traditionally had the opportunity to enter the towering, mysterious stone circle for a sunrise ceremony run by local pagan and druid groups.

Due to the pandemic, personal celebrations have been canceled this year. But the English Heritage Society has set it up so that you can live stream the sunrise from Stonehenge.

lantern festival

In Canada, the Winter Solstice Lantern Festival in Vancouver is a scintillating celebration of solstice traditions from around the world. Traditionally, the Secret Lantern Society gathers a wide variety of music, dance, food and spectacular lantern-lit processions.

For 2020, they are bringing the festival to Zoom, encouraging people to share their lanterns and other endeavors online.

The ‘poinsettia’

Saturn, above, and Jupiter, below, are seen after sunset on December 13 from Shenandoah National Park in Luray, Virginia.

Saturn, above, and Jupiter, below, are seen after sunset on December 13 from Shenandoah National Park in Luray, Virginia.

NASA / Bill Ingalls

While the pandemic is raining down on our parades on Earth, its reach cannot extend into the solar system.

On the night of December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will appear so close together in our sky that they will look like a double planet. This close approximation is called a conjunction.

Because it happens just in time for Christmas, many give it the nickname of the “Poinsettia”.

“You would have to go all the way back to just before sunrise on March 4, 1226, to see a closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky,” wrote astronomer Patrick Hartigan, a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice. University. in Houston, in a statement.

The solstice and the “Christmas Star” will give a coronavirus-weary world two powerful symbols of hope and memories of a universe that continues to march at its own pace that no virus can stop.

CNN’s Katia Hetter, CNN’s Ashley Strickland, and Autumn Spanne contributed to this article.

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