Winter Solstice

Days are going to get longer WEF today. Celebrate with the Khagol Mela

Days are going to get longer WEF today. Celebrate with the Khagol Mela

To cut a long story short, today is the shortest day of the year for people living on the Northern side of the Equator. It is called the Winter Solstice.

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.

On the day of Winter Solstice, North Pole points directly away from the Sun and South Pole points directly towards the Sun. So the Sun shines at lowest heights in Northern skies and at maximum heights at Southern skies. It results in the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere but at the same time, it's the longest day in Southern Hemisphere. So, for people in Southern Hemisphere it's a Summer Solstice.u00a0

Winter Solstice indicates winter at its peak. After this, the length of the day starts increasing and it reaches a point where day and night becomes equal in length at Vernal or Spring Equinox. The day continues to grow longer till Summer Solstice, the longest day.u00a0

SPACE, a research organisation, has planned Khagol Mela in collaboration with Nehru Planetarium at Jantar Mantar on the occasion. Students from various schools of Delhi would be performing activities like measuring sun angle during noon, finding declination of the sun using Jai Prakash Yantra.

Join them in say b'bye to the worst of winter and welcoming warmer, longer days.