Winter solstice often referred to as December solstice is an astronomical phenomenon marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year, observed mainly in the Northern Hemisphere.The term solstice comes from the Latin word solstitium, meaning ‘the Sun stands still’. This is because on this day, the Sun reaches its southern-most position as seen from the Earth. The Sun seems to stand still at the Tropic of Capricorn (latitude 23° 30′ South) in the southern hemisphere.
In the Northern Hemisphere, astronomers and scientists use the December Solstice as the start of the winter season, which ends on the March Equinox. In astronomy, the winter solstice is the moment when the earth is at a point in its orbit where one hemisphere is most inclined away from the sun. The winter solstice itself lasts only a moment in time, so other terms are used for the day on which it occurs, such as “midwinter”, or the “shortest day”. It is often considered the “extreme of winter”.
Worldwide, interpretation of the event has varied across cultures, but many have held it as a recognition of rebirth, involving holidays, festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations around that time.
Many cultures the world over perform solstice ceremonies. At their root — an ancient fear that the failing light would never return unless humans intervened with anxious vigil or antic celebration. Most ancient cultures built Astronomical Observatories – tombs, temples, cairns among others, to align with the solstices and equinoxes. Worldwide, interpretation of the event has varied across cultures, but many have held a recognition of rebirth, involving holidays, festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations around that time. New grange predates the great pyramids at Giza in Egypt by some 500 years and Stonehenge by about 1,000 years. When it was built, sunrise on the shortest day of the year, what we now call December 21, entered the main chamber precisely at sunrise. Experts say it is not by chance that the sun shines there. Now it enters about four minutes after sunrise because of changes in the Earth’s orbiting of the sun since then.
Today, the Irish and visitors celebrated the Winter Solstice as they did thousands of years ago at New grange, a huge Stone Age megalithic monument into the deepest part of whose main chamber the sun shines at sunrise. This year about 30,000 people participated in a lottery, from which 50 were chosen, to be in the 5,000-year-old monument at sunrise to witness the primeval event the mornings of Dec. 18 to 23. While the monument near the Boyne River in County Meath is open all year and is one of Ireland’s most popular attractions, it draws special international attention today.
