We explain what the solstice is and some of its main characteristics. Also, what are its differences with the equinox.
What is the solstice?
We call the two points of the solstice path of the Sun throughout the year in which it coincides at noon with the two tropics of the planet: Cancer and Capricorn, thus reaching its greatest declination with respect to the Earth's equator. In other words, the solstices occur when the Sun reaches its highest or lowest apparent height in the sky, moving away from the Earth's equator at +23° 27' (North) or at -23° 27' (South).
The solstices occur twice a year: summer solstice and winter solstice, thus marking the beginning of these seasons, the warmest or the coldest, respectively, according to the hemisphere in which one is located. So, Towards the end of June the summer solstice occurs in the northern hemisphere and winter in the south, and vice versa towards the end of December. This phenomenon is linked to the tilting movement of the planet.
The term solstice comes from the Latin sol sistere (“still sun”) because on those days the longest (summer) and shortest (winter) days of the year occur. For this reason, the different ancient cultures of humanity paid special attention to both days, considering them maximum points or fullness of heat or cold, and therefore associating them with the empire of the sun and the point of maximum splendor, vitality and luminosity of the year (summer) and the one with less light, less fertility, colder and therefore greater presence of the spiritual world, as the nocturnal world is usually considered. In fact, the most popular winter solstice tradition is Christmas.
See also: Rotation of the Earth
Solstice and equinox
While the solstices are the points of greatest distance from the Sun from the equator, producing the maximum points of the respective summer and winter seasons, the equinoxes are the opposite: the days in which the plane of the Sun coincides as closely as possible with the equator of the planet, thus generating days and nights of the same approximate length. There are also two equinoxes throughout the year in March (summer) and September (autumn) respectively, in the northern hemisphere (they are reversed in the southern).
Many traditional human cultures considered the equinoxes as dates of change from one plane to another, times of transition in which life was welcomed (spring, with the greening) or death (autumn, with the fall of the leaves).
Continue on: Equinox
References
- “Solstice” on Wikipedia.
- “Solstice: the mystery of the Sun in different cultures” in Esfinge Magazine.
- “What is a solstice?” (video) on Star Tres.
- “Solstice (Astronomy)” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- “What's the Difference Between a Solstice and an Equinox?” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
