The Winter Solstice, which marks the start of the winter season, is the inspiration behind Friday’s Google Doodle. Today you can find the sun at its lowest position throughout the Northern Hemisphere sky. People around the world have celebrated this astronomical milestone for centuries.
The Winter Solstice doodle features an animated mouse ice skating above a mouse hole with what appears to be collected food for hibernation. The animation ends with the mouse rolling into the hole while covered in snow.
Clicking the Google Doodle takes users to a search page for “Winter Solstice 2018,” which offers new articles, tweets and other search results on the Winter Solstice.
In China, locals refer to the Winter Solstice as Dongzhi Festival, a celebration of winter’s arrival. Locals enjoy rice balls called tang yuan, which translates to “family reunion.” This treat is said to bring prosperity and unity—something all of us can enjoy on this auspicious day.
What is Winter Solstice?
The word solstice is a Latin word which denotes sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still). So as the summers advance towards the winter, the points of the Earth from where the sunrise takes place also head southwards. When the sun reaches the southernmost position it is called as the winter solstice day.
At Stonehenge, crowds of people come together to celebrate and capture the moment when the sun directly aligns with the famous stones.
On this winter solstice of the Northern Hemisphere, the North Pole will tilt about 23.5° (23°27′) away from the Sun. So the sun shines directly over the Tropic of Capricorn. It occurs when the sun is lowest in the sky. The phenomenon marks the beginning of the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere. Although there is still a debate if it actually starts off the winter season, the temperatures in the day start falling.
Winter Solstice 2018 Timings In India
Sunrise- 07:07:30Sunset- 18:06:32
Happy Winter Solstice, Northern Hemisphere!
