Just wanted to tear you away from your festivus celebrations for a moment to observe that starting tomorrow the days will be getting longer.
Woot!
Now if only I could SEE the sun through these clouds and fog…
The sun has already started to rise earlier. Which sure is nice of it, I get to see the pretty landscape instead of just rows of headlights against the ink-black background!
From the BBC weather centre:
Thursday
Sunrise 08:08
Sunset 15:50
Friday
Sunrise 08:08
Sunset 15:50
Saturday
Sunrise 08:09
Sunset 15:51
Hooray!
Oh wait, sunrise is getting later too?
Sunday
Sunrise 08:09
Sunset 15:52
Monday
Sunrise 08:10
Sunset 15:52
Either the BBC have got it wrong or something weird is going on. Bloody Wintersmith, let go dammit.
No, it hasn’t. It has started to set later. At our latititudes, it won’t start rising earlier until early January. (A day or two earlier for you than for me, since you’re probably a bit farther north.)
Yeah - who intelligently designed that?!
Technically, the solstice is tomorrow. It is 22 minutes after midnight.
Well yeah, for all you folk in Greenwich…
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/WinterSolstice.html
Oh, thank goodness, I thought I was losing my mind.
I am NOT staying up all night in the snow around a campfire for some pseudo-solstice, dammit! 
But Happy Solstice to all, anyway!
It’s not quite the summer solstice yet. There’s still about another three hours to go. It occurs at 11.22 this morning (Friday).
Now, this is definitely something I’d celebrate!
If you want to see something cool in connection with the sun and earth, try looking at this site
This is not a real picture of the earth, but it is an accurate portrayal of the distribution of light and dark at any given moment as seen from space. You will notice that today, the amount of light hitting the southern hemisphere is much greater than the northern.
Now, where it says “display” choose “from Sun” and hit update. You will see that the sun’s rays are right now directly hitting on 23 degrees 26 minutes south latitude, which is the Tropic of Cancer. That is about the southernmost spot that the sun’s direct rays will hit. Now the sun “turns” and its direct rays start hitting a little farther north every day, until the end of June. They will fall directly on the equator around March 21, 3 months from now, and that will be the spring equinox (equal night) because day and night will be of equal length. It will continue striking further north every day until late June.
It is fun to go to this site regularly and watch the change.
Al;so, try this. type in 90 degrees south latitude and click on update. You will see Antarctica. It is 100% in daylight and will remain like that 24 hours a day for the next few weeks.
Now look the earth from 90 degrees NORTH latitude. You will see the Earth over the north pole. It is all in nighttime and will remain so for several weeks. Even parts of nortthern Canada and Alaska are right now in 24-hour darkness.
Six months from now, all of this will be the same, excpt it will be flip-reversed, north to south.
Coding fixed
Tropic of Capricorn
HAPPY [/COLOR[COLOR=Blue]]SOLTICE STRINKA!!! 
Actually, summer solstice is about six months away. But you can celebrate winter solstice in the meantime. 
Looks at Cunctator’s location
:smack:
:smack: I meant to say Capricorn. The tropic of Cancer is the line of latitude that runs about 100 km south of Key West Fla. and represents the NORTHERNMOST point that the sun’s direct rays hit around June 21 before the sun “turns” southward again and the days start to get shorter again in the northern hemisphere.
By the way, the word “tropics” is from a Greek word for “turning”.
Solstice already? Actually, I thought it was already passed. Good thing I don’t buy presents for it
It also happens to be my 32nd wedding anniversary.
::bows::
Happy Solstice one and all.
Earliest Sunrise/Latest Sunset do not Coincide
From that thread, a detailed explanation.
Blimey, I didn’t know that yesterday. And here someone took a picture. Guess I can still trust the BBC after all then.
Sunrise and sunset are a bit of a theoretical concept in England at the moment. No big hot yellow burning thing in the sky at all. Just fog.