 Let the Sun Shine! Celebrate the Winter Solstice
Earth as seen from space on Winter Solstice 12/21/2010. Image courtesy of NASA.
Today is the Winter Solstice - the day, in the northern hemisphere, with the shortest daylight hours and longest hours of darkness. From this point forward the amount of daylight hours will lengthen until the Summer Solstice in June when the shortening of daylight hours will return.
People around the world celebrate in many different ways depending on their cultural heritage and traditions. In Japan the traditional food to eat as part of the winter solstice celebration is kabocha, a winter squash. Vancouver, Canada celebrates with a lantern festival that includes live music, fire performances and lantern making.
Check to see of there is a winter solstice celebration in your community or start a tradition of your own. I like to sing Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In by the 5th Dimension, light candles, make a special dinner, and then go outside to look at the night sky.
An online option is Dark Sky Maine's annual Winter Solstice Virtual Star Tour Party tomorrow night - Dec 22 from 7-8:15 p.m. on Zoom. It is fun and educational. Preregistration and event details are available at darkskymaine.com/events.
Take a look at the Sun halo at 63-degrees North at NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day.
Happy Winter Solstice!
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