winter solstices
Shortest daylight periods
Winter solstices is the plural of winter solstice, the day when the sun reaches its lowest point in the sky, producing the shortest daylight and longest night of the year.
In the Northern Hemisphere this falls around December 21; in the Southern Hemisphere, around June 21.
Many cultures mark winter solstices with festivals celebrating the return of lengthening days.
- nightDark hours daily
- shortest dayYear's minimum daylight
- longest nightMaximum darkness period yearly
- iceWater's solid form
- polar nightExtended winter darkness beyond Arctic
Saturnalia · midwinter · wintertime · snow · pagan festivals · axial tilt · autumnal equinox · vernal equinox · perihelion · solar calendar · chill · celestial · hibernation · standing stones · ancient rituals · frost · darkness · Nordic traditions
winter solsticesequinoxes
Equal day and night
vernal equinoxes · autumnal equinoxes · spring equinoxes · fall equinoxes
winter, solstice, winters, wintery, wintry, solstices, parasol, solarium