Yesterday’s winter SOLstice arrived appropriately on SUNday, played now-you-see-it-now-you don’t with the SUNlight much of that shortest day of the year, and then ended the day at 3:48 p.m. with this magnificent SUNdown. The longest night of the year had begun.
“Solstice” literally means standing sun. As you probably know, the winter solstice occurs when our northern hemisphere is tilted farthest from the Sun, marking the start of astronomical winter and the time from which days slowly begin to get longer again as we tilt back. (Image taken on December 21, 2025.) Click on the image to enlarge it.