2017 has been full of Supermoons, retrogrades and UFO sightings — so it comes as no surprise to many that this year’s winter Solstice is a special phenomenon in its own right.
Before you start getting yourself worked up about the inconvenience of the cold weather that comes with the Winter season, check out these other interesting facts about this year’s Winter Solstice.
The winter solstice occurs at the moment the Earth’s tilt away from the sun is at a maximum. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s the day with the shortest amount of daylight — less than 12 hours — and our longest night of the year. But people in the Southern Hemisphere experience it as their summer solstice with the longest stretch of daylight.
Stonehenge is a historic meeting place during the Winter Solstice. It’s an ancient stone circle, older than the pyramids of Giza — somewhere between 4,000 to 5,000 years old.
When it comes to the amount of sunlight we receive, it’s only up from here.