TONIGHT IS THE WINTER SOLSTICE!

[elleng]

In the Northern Hemisphere, the southernmost sunrise and sunset usher in the year’s shortest day and the longest night. In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the exact opposite, for the year’s southernmost sunrise and sunset give the Southern Hemisphere its longest day and shortest night.



http://earthsky.org/tonight/southernmost-sun-brings-december-21-solstice

[roody]

1. The Solstice is the reason for the season.

[niyad]

2. blessed solstice to you and yours.

[Tipperary]

42. I love the solstice.

[liberal N proud]

3. Longest night of the year.

[elleng]

5. AND days LENGTHEN from now on!!!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

13. Thank. God.

[Lochloosa]

4. 66 here tonight and 78 tomorrow....damn I hate Florida winters.

[elleng]

6. 55 today, 63 tomorrow, 74 Thursday,

damn I hate Maryland winters!!!

[Warpy]

26. The high desert is getting rain/snow tomorrow

and snow again on Saturday. We've still got a few patches of last weekend's snow here and there, although it was off the streets by noon. I love NM winters. Still not much snowpack in the mountains, though.

[oldandhappy]

7. Great graphic, thanks.

[1StrongBlackMan]

8. Stupid; but serious question ...

Is the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere called the Summer Solstice in the southern hemisphere?

[elleng]

9. Dunno, have to check with my Aussie friend!

Just wrote her. She's just returned to her home from a weekend wedding, so we'll see when she responds.

Maybe 'December' solstice???

[1StrongBlackMan]

10. I think that would be a more appropriate title ...

Less anglo-centric.

[elleng]

11. Right,

and that's what it's referred to here: http://earthsky.org/tonight/southernmost-sun-brings-december-21-solstice

[Igel]

12. And yet it's still in "Anglish."

"Winter solstice" is as anglo-centric as it is Russo-Centric.

And if you like the "tradition" of exonyms, so that all pale European-stock folk are "anglo" so Russians and Brits are functionally interchangeable, note that dongzhi in Mandarin means "winter solstice", with the word "winter" prominently featured in the compound.

Northern hemisphere cultures developed the sciences ahead of southern hemisphere cultures and coined phrases in their languages for use with their compatriots without due consideration of how everybody else would eventually consider them. (Silly them, valuing themselves over others.)

Like all those supremacist peoples around the world whose endonym, their word in their language for use with their fellow community members devolves to the word for "people" or "human." We are people, others are not. (Sort of like Greeks calling non-Greeks barbarians because they lacked real language and went around saying bar-bar. Like many a frat boy.)

[niyad]

51. the solstices are called by their correct names in each hemisphere.

no anglo-centrism involved.

[elleng]

15. The answer is, from my Aussie friend:

'We refer to the summer and winter solstice as well. Just at opposite times of the year than you guys do in the northern hemisphere. Because that's what it is here. In December we have our most hours of sunlight in a a day - and in June our least.'

[1StrongBlackMan]

18. Could get confusing ...

"Hey ... Ellen's Aussie Friend, let's meet up next winter solstice."

"Cool. Are we beaching it or skiing? "

[elleng]

19. Right, it COULD!

Depends on your hemisphere!!!

[pinboy3niner]

21. When my Aussie buddy visited, he pointed at the sky and asked if that was the North Star

Of course, he's used to seeing the Southern Cross. I looked where he was pointing and replied, "No, Warwick. That's the North Cessna."

[elleng]

22. HA!

When my friend visited here, I pointed out the Capitol!!!

[pinboy3niner]

23. My buddy wanted to go to the Wall, as he's a VN vet (3RAR)

That's short for 3rd Royal Australian Regiment. So we drove to D.C. from L.A.

[elleng]

25. WOW! Quite a trek!

My friend flew in from Australia to meet up with friends in the U.S., and I took the bus downtown from my home in DC.

[pinboy3niner]

27. That's pretty handy, lol

I lived in McLean for 16 years and worked across from the Hirshhorn Museum for part of that time.

We did the cross-country trip from CA on two of Warwick's visits, taking a couple of months or so each time to visit friends around the country as we traveled. It was a blast, but the seats in my little Ford Escort seemed to get harder with every mile.

[elleng]

31. Yes, pretty handy!

I worked near the Hirshhorn, @ 12th and Constitution for almost 20 years.

Such trips WOULD be a blast! I drove from Denver to Chicago once, and then Chicago to DC, nothing to compare with your TRUE cross-country trips.

[pangaia]

56. What I want to know is.. which was is up and which way is down?

[elleng]

57. Depends on whether you stand on your head or not!!!

[pangaia]

58. Humm,, true..

ConsiderIng another 'up and down' discussion, Bucky Fuller used the terms 'in' and 'out' rather than our usual 'up' and 'down'.

[Takket]

61. down is towards the center of Earth

[pangaia]

63. According to Bucky Fuller that direction is 'in.'

[niyad]

49. here:

Winter Solstice – Shortest Day of the Year

Solstices are opposite on either side of the equator, so the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere is the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere and vice versa.

[restorefreedom]

14. welcome back, dear sun!

solstice blessings to all

[elleng]

35. Heckuva pic, restorefreedom!

[restorefreedom]

36. :) bing is a wonderful thing. and great for pics. nt

[elleng]

37. Good to know.

I do my own pics, NOT time-lapse, and haven't used bing yet.

[restorefreedom]

41. i find it better than google for pics. nt

[KamaAina]

16. Blessed be!

[Hekate]

17. Happiness from Solstice to Solstice

The Hogfather says leave out a porkpie and some brandy for him, and some turnips for the boars that draw his sleigh.

And The Sun shall rise.

[yellowcanine]

20. Time to light up the Winter Solstice Tree!

Merry Winter Solstice and a Happy New Year
to My Pagan Friends!

[niyad]

50. beautiful tree, and thank you.

[Butterbean]

24. Oooh, it's officially winter. W00t! n/t

[UTUSN]

28. Why do wingnuts hate the Winter Solstice and wage war on it?!1 n/t

[niyad]

52. excellent point.

[Kingofalldems]

29. Spring training starts in about 8 weeks.

[valerief]

30. "Hey STICER, go STICER, SOLSTICER, go STICER"

[Botany]

32. New Germany State Park ..... Western, MD

Even if you don't X-country ski this is a little piece of heaven .... go in the middle of the
week and rent a cabin and you will have the place to yourself.

[elleng]

34. NICE!

Haven't been there, and doubt there's snow now, as our MD weather has been unseasonably warm. Haven't checked WESTERN md, tho. Here in southern MD, now, the temp is 55.

[Botany]

44. Year round it is a real gem

The cabins have been fixed up and are up to date however no TV and cell phones
don't work real well there but lots of history w/in an hour or two of the park.
(Casselman River Bridge, Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water, Antietam, and lots
more) New Germany Park has miles of trails, the occasional black bear, and
some nice dinning in nearby Grantsville, MD. But if you can swing it sometime
in the winter during the week you can have the place to yourself and if it is a
clear night you can see millions of stars.

Some of the cabins are pet friendly too. And if you hit it at the right time the
snow sitting in the hemlocks is like magic.

I have been going the last few years in Febuary and March w/myself, son, and
black lab and I have had a great time.

New Germany S. P. has a web site so you can see if the trails have snow or you
can check Weather Underground's link for Frostburg, MD.

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=Frostburg%2C+MD

[elleng]

45. Sounds good!

I lived in Hagerstown for a few years, Antietam nearby. WANTED to get to Falling Water, but never did.

[Botany]

48. Falling Water is about an hour a way from New Germany State Park

The House is closed during January & February and opened on the weekends in March.
If conditions are right the grounds are open in the winter .... call first.

The old National Rd US 40 takes you close to Falling Water and a little past it is a
place called the Stone House Inn (1822) and their lunches can feed two people easy.

I haven't been to New Germany in the spring or early summer but I would bet
the wildflowers, Mt Laurel, and Rhododendron blooms would be awesome ... in
the spring they have a conference on native plants too.

[hunter]

33. In my dreams I'll be in the southern hemisphere frolicking naked on a warm beach somewhere.

:wohoo:

[ismnotwasm]

38. I've been invited to a great party

Unfortunately, I can't go--but it's gorgeous, with food, dancing, imagery

[L. Coyote]

39. The December solstice happens at 4:48 Universal Time on December 22.

To be precise, since some people's tomorrow might be your today.

[longship]

40. So today we begin the slow crawl out of the bottom of the analemma.

Everybody, enjoy your cold, brisk winter. Rest assured that after today the Sun is coming back towards the North, creeping in its slow pace day by day.

Happy Winter solstice to all DUers!


Martini time!

Southern Hemisphere DUers, reverse this.

[Iggo]

43. A Scintillating Solstice to you!

[elleng]

46. and to you!

[hfojvt]

47. so now winter is 1/3 over

the days are gonna start getting longer now.

[JackInGreen]

53. Happy Solstice to one and all of my alternative faith cousins

And Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to the others!

[geomon666]

54. 85 fucking degrees in Miami

Man I need to get out of here.

[elleng]

55. 55 degrees NOW in southern MD!

GLAD to be here, but it's gonna start raining and keep raining for about 1 week.

[Cassiopeia]

59. 79 outside. :(

But I got to see this from the backyard:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027466413

[Snobblevitch]

60. While I am not a fan of the early sunsets at this time of year,

the late sunsets in June more than make for it. I don't know how the people who live near the equater can stand the early sunsets (6pm) year-round. Well, I suppose that's all they know. Conversely, I remember being north of Fairbanks in June, and there was just too much daylight.

[MrMickeysMom]

62. Winter Solstice and a Christmas Moon...

This week, keep looking to our place in the Universe...
Happy Solstice, my friends!

[burrowowl]

64. Yeah! Days will be

getting longer!

[elleng]

65. YAAY! Sunset's TODAY, 12/22, @ 4:50,

1 minute later than it did YESTERDAY!!!

[pinboy3niner]

66. Aussies are sharp and funny, but OT I once got one of them back...

When my Aussie buddy visited, he pointed at the sky and asked if that was the North Star. Of course, he's used to seeing the Southern Cross.

I looked where he was pointing and took a few beats before replying. "No, Warwick," I told him. "Here we call that the North Cessna."

[elleng]

67. HA! Good one!

Will try to remember for MY Aussie friend!