Solstice

[really]

The solstice is approaching - will you be doing anything to mark midwinter / midsummer?

How much daylight will you have where you are?

Here in Galway, Ireland the stats are as follows:

Rising and setting times for the Sun
Date 22 Dec 2011
Sunrise 08:49
Sunset 16:20
Length of day 7h 30m 41s
Solar noon 12:35

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=1999
I will be out celebrating on Thursday night but not particularly for the solstice - more for the general Christmas period.

More broadly do you feel the changes in daylight influence your moods?
Personally I find it much harder to get myself started in the mornings and I go to bed earlier. Not sure if that is the cold or the sixteen hours of darkness.

For those of you in the southern hemisphere do you mark the day?
Those of you in the tropics do you notice any difference in the length of the days at all?

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

I celebrate the solstice on the 24. Everyone else celebrates Yule on that day so I do it as well. I celebrate like every one else does in Scandinavia. Our "Christmas" is celebrated in the exact same way as Yule/the solstice. The Christians stole the holiday.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

The Christians stole the holiday.

grinchy

Rising and setting times for the Sun, Stockholm:
Date 22 Dec 2011
Sunrise 08:44
Sunset 14:48
Length of day 6h 04m 43s
Solar noon 11:46

 

[Antilogic]

Data for Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Date: Dec 22, 2011
Sunrise: 7:10 AM
Sunset: 4:15 PM
Length of Day: 9h 04m 50s
Solar Noon: 11:43 AM

And I thought our days were short... at least we have sunlight until 4 PM!

 

[timtofly]

It brings the coldest three months, but there will be a little more light each day and hope for warmer times.

 

[Murky]

The the days get longer instead of shorter for change.

 

[dIZZyBlIZZy]

December Solstice (Winter Solstice) is on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 11:30 PM in Nashville.

Actually, the 22nd is shorter than the 21st by less than 1 second. Wonder if the time of the solstice is part of the reason?

 

[Lillefix]

And I thought our days were short... at least we have sunlight until 4 PM!

Massachusetts is around the same latitude as northern Spain. Not very far north by European standards no.


Here in Bergen we have

Sunrise at 09:43 in direction 141° Southeast
Sunset at 15:28 in direction 219° Southwest

Duration of day: 5 hours, 45 minutes (36 seconds shorter than yesterday)

I know there's a guy from Tromsø here as well. His day is zero hours.

 

[timtofly]

Actually, the 22nd is shorter than the 21st by less than 1 second. Wonder if the time of the solstice is part of the reason?

Because this year it is on the 22nd, and not the 21st.

 

[timtofly]

Massachusetts is around the same latitude as northern Spain. Not very far north by European standards no.


Here in Bergen we have



I know there's a guy from Tromsø here as well. His day is zero hours.

It depends on which side of the time zone you are in. The western side will always have a little more sun than the eastern side.

 

[dIZZyBlIZZy]

Because this year it is on the 22nd, and not the 21st.

Read my post. In Nashville it's on the 21st at 2330.

 

[Moonbat]

The site doesn't have my location listed. :'(

But this is close enough (Oulu, Finland):
Sunrise 10:17
Sunset 13:52
Length of day 3h 34m 06s (around +30min where I live)
Solar noon 12:04

Without snow on the ground it would be dark as hell. The sun rarely shines this time of the year.

Here's another cool site:
http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/kajaani.html

Six months from now:
Sunrise 02:35
Sunset 23:46
Length of day 21h 11m

 

[timtofly]

Read my post. In Nashville it's on the 21st at 2330.

The 21st is the traditional date for all of the US. However this year the shortest day is the 22nd. Those in the Eastern time zone do in fact celebrate 12:30 am 22.

 

[Berzerker]

I have a religious based question: how does the 3 day resurrection fit in with the solstice and Dec 25th being his "birthday"? I understand there is a lag time - maybe 2-3 days - between the sun appearing to reach its southernmost point and starting northward again. I imagine people all over the world, especially in the N hemisphere, were very keen to make sure the sun didn't just keep going south and rituals developed to ensure the return of the sun. Kinda makes me wonder if some bizarre event happened in the deep past that scared the hell out of our ancestors.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

I have a religious based question: how does the 3 day resurrection fit in with the solstice and Dec 25th being his "birthday"? I understand there is a lag time - maybe 2-3 days - between the sun appearing to reach its southernmost point and starting northward again. I imagine people all over the world, especially in the N hemisphere, were very keen to make sure the sun didn't just keep going south and rituals developed to ensure the return of the sun. Kinda makes me wonder if some bizarre event happened in the deep past that scared the hell out of our ancestors.

What?

To answer to OP - I get more tired and the weeks pass on like in a coma. Dark as you get up and dark when you go home. On the other hand the spring is much appreciated here.

 

[madviking]

For Alexandria, Virginia (close enough):

Jun 21, 2011	5:43 AM	8:37 PM	14h 53m 23s	+ 01s	1:10 PM    74.6°   152.022
Jun 22, 2011	5:44 AM	8:37 PM	14h 53m 21s	− 01s	1:10 PM    74.6°   152.033
...
Dec 21, 2011	7:23 AM	4:50 PM	9h 26m 47s	− 03s	12:06 PM   27.8°   147.168
Dec 22, 2011	7:23 AM	4:50 PM	9h 26m 47s	< 1s	12:07 PM   27.8°   147.159

 

[duckstab]

For Austin, TX:

Dec 22, 2011
7:24 AM
5:35 PM
10h 11m 33s

 

[_random_]

The Christians stole the holiday.

The word you seek is "Baptized."

 

[Smellincoffee]

I started walking in the late afternoon this autumn, and though I started at 6:30, with the shortening days and daylight savings time ending, I've had to start earlier and earlier, to the point that now I set out at four pm. I'm looking forward to the days getting long again. It's a shame people aren't familiar with the celestial drama our ancestors created holidays around...little wonder they look at Christmas trees and Easter bunnies with utter confusion.

 

[Silurian]

It should be noted that those are predicted times the actual sunset times will vary due to the weather by 10s of seconds.