Winter arrives December 21

As the winter arrives, the sun's maximum elevation during the day, the elevation at noon, gets lower. This maximum elevation attains its lowest value at the winter solstice and after that it starts to increase.
When it is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere.
Read More

Summer Solstice & Supermoon 2013

Photo by Jack Demaree

This year's Summer solstice also stands out because it will be followed shortly after by the largest "Supermoon" of the year. In the early hours of Sunday, June 23, the moon will officially reach its full phase and will be the closest to Earth that it will be all year.
Read More

First Day of Winter Dec. 21st

A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun's apparent position in the sky to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme. The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the apparent movement of the Sun's path north or south comes to a stop before reversing direction. The term solstice can also be used in a broader sense, as the date (day) when this occurs. The solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with the seasons. In some cultures they are considered to start or separate the seasons while in others they fall in the middle.
Read More