For the past six months, the days have gotten shorter and the nights have grown longer. The good news is, the winter solstice is the start of daylight relief. The shortest amount of daylight in a day is tomorrow, 12/21/17 with 9 hours, 11 minutes and 30 seconds. This also means the first day of winter has arrived but if you’re not a winter lover, then the countdown to spring has also begun.

So what’s behind the winter solstice? It means the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Also, when the sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn. It also marks the longest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. So Winter officially starts tomorrow at 11:28 PM EST. The winter solstice happens because the Earth is tilted which causes our seasons. As the Earth moves around the sun day after day, each hemisphere will experience different seasons.

Each hemisphere will experience winter when they are tilted away from the sun and summer when it is tilted towards the sun. Spring and fall mark when the sun’s rays are directly over the equator. This also means equal length of day and night. The summer solstice is when the sun’s rays are directly over the Tropic of Cancer. This will give us our longest day.

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