December Night Sky
Sky events for this month & objects for observation can be found here.
Courtesy of Orion Telescopes & Binoculars
Click to enlarge. A larger printable version of this chart can also be found here.
WINTER SOLSTICE
The Winter Solstice is takes place on December 21, 2019 at 8:19 pm PST in the Northern Hemisphere (December 22, 2019 04:19 Coordinated Universal Time - UTC). Marking the longest night and shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice is an astronomical event that takes place when the Earth reaches its maximum tilt on its axis away from the Sun. At the same time, residents of the Southern Hemisphere are experiencing their longest day and shortest night. The term solstice literally means the Sun apparently stands still. This occurs as the north-south path of the Sun in the sky stops moving in one direction and begins to move in the opposite direction.
The tilt of the Earth's axis in its orbit around the Sun creates the seasons and defines the dates of the Solstices and Equinoxes. Not to scale.
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Analemma - the path of the Sun in the sky at noon throughout the year.
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These celestial milestones have long shaped human activities and annual cycles. Peoples all over the world have long revered this annual astronomical occurrence as a time to bid farewell to lengthy, dark nights and to welcome the impending return of the Sun.
