Today (Fri) is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. The solstice arrives at 4:23 PM this afternoon. Sunrise on Friday is 9:13 AM and sunset is 4:56 PM for a total of 7 hours and 43 minutes of daylight. Compare that to the summer solstice which is the longest day of the year with 16 hours and 45 minutes of daylight.
Environment Canada’s Terri Lang describes the winter solstice as an astronomical event not meteorological because it is about where the planet is in relationship to the sun. She says the solstice marks when the sun reaches its farthest south destination and then starts making its way back northward again so the northern hemisphere can get back to getting more sunshine hours.
Not only is it the longest night, there are a few other events of note in the sky. The full moon, which is officially at its fullest tomorrow is called the Cold Moon or the Long Night Moon. There will also be a meteor shower, called the Ursids, visible in the mid-Northern hemisphere, although with the full moon, they may be hard to spot.
