Winter Solstice 2020 in Inderøy

The winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. One should more accurately call this the December Solstice as there is also a solstice in June, which in the Northern Hemisphere indicates the longest day of the year, i.e. the day with the most daylight hours. The December solstice is a particular time on a particular day, when the sun is exactly over the Tropic of Capricorn. In 2020 this happens on the 21st of December at 10:02 UTC, or at 11:02 local time where I live.

The sun was just clearing the hills in the distance at 11:02 local time. The picture was taken from sea level, at the high water mark on the beach. Note how orangey the colour are just after sunrise when the sun is still very, very low in the sky.

For those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, this is the shortest day of the year, i.e. the day with the least amount of daylight.

Because of latitude and the way we keep time, the latest sunrise and the earliest sunset will not occur on exactly the solstice. The earliest sunset will occur before the winter solstice and the latest sunrise will occur after the winter solstice. (See explanation h ere)

How much of a coincidence is it that Christians celebrate the birth of Christ (Christmas) a few days after the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere? Here in Norway, Christmas becomes a festival of lights as the number of daylight hours is at a minimum and people like light.

So let’s look at some of the numbers for my location in Vangshylla, Inderøy, Norway

Date	Sunrise	Sunset	Hours of daylight	Solar Noon
Dec 18	10:03	14:21	4 hours, 18 minutes, 37 seconds	12:12
Dec 19	10:03	14:21	4:17:56	12:12
Dec 20	10:04	14:22	4:17:31	12:13
Dec 21	10:05	14:22	4:17:24	12:13
Dec 22	10:05	14:23	4:17.33	12:14
Dec 23	10:05	14:23	4:17:59	12:14
Dec 24	10:06	14:24	4:18:43	12:15

Notice that I have given the sunrise and sunset to the nearest minute, but one actually needs to include the seconds to show the exact number of minutes of daylight and to see the changes from day to day. There isn’t much difference between Dec 19 and Dec 21, only 32 seconds .

The latest sunrise is on December 24th and 25th at 10:06. The earliest sunset in on December 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th and 14:21. There are very small changes each day around the solstice. However, with exact astronomical calculations, the day with the shortest number of daylight hours is December 21st with 4 hours, 17 minutes and 24 seconds.

I have also included in the table when the solar noon is, that is, when the sun is at its highest position in the sky. This varies slightly from day to day, because the day is not really 24 hours long. Around the December solstice, solar noons are a little bit farther apart each day.

This photo was taken at 12:13, showing its highest position in the sky on the December solstice. Note how there is less orange in the photo and more blue, partly because the sun is higher in the sky, but also it is partly covered by cloud.

My source for information is: https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/ten-things-december-solstice.html. By going to Sun & Moon, you can write in your location and get the relevant times.

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