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Topic: December solstice

	Solstice - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The solstices then, together with the equinoxes, are the defining moments of the start of the (astronomical) seasons, except in China, where they mark their centers.
		During the June solstice the Sun appears to be directly overhead at noon for places situated at latitude 23.44° north, known as the tropic of Cancer.
		The solstices are the dates that the Sun stays farthest away from the zenith, only reaching an altitude of 66.56° either to the north or the south.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Solstice (2327 words)

	Winter Solstice - Crystalinks
		In astronomy, the winter solstice is the moment when the earth is at a point in its orbit where one hemisphere is most inclined away from the sun.
		Solstice is a Latin borrowing and means "sun stand", referring to the appearance that the sun's noontime elevation change stops its progress, either northerly or southerly.
		Since the winter solstice, summer solstice, vernal equinox, and autumnal equinox were probably observed for the first time by people in the northern hemisphere, these naming conventions originally corresponded to the northern hemisphere's seasons.
	www.crystalinks.com /wintersolstice.html (2218 words)

	The Dark Days of Winter (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		In late December, the daily rate of change of the Sun's declination is quite small and is, of course, zero at the December solstice; "solstice" means "Sun stationary".
		Thus in late December it is the Equation of Time that has the dominant influence over the changes in sunrise and sunset times from one day to the next.
		Solstice occurs around 21 June, but at latitude 40 degrees north the earliest sunrise occurs around 14 June and the latest sunset around 28 June.
	aa.usno.navy.mil /faq/docs/dark_days.html (691 words)

	Solstices
		Solstices are those moments of the year when the sun reaches its southernmost position (in December), or northernmost position (in June), at the Celestial Tropic of Capricorn or Celestial Tropic of Cancer, respectively.
		The solstices are caused by the fact that the Earth's axis is not perpendicular to its orbital plane; it deviates by an angle of approximately 23.5 degrees of arc; this also causes seasonal changes in the weather.
		On the solstices the length of the day and the altitude of the sun at noon are the maximum or the minimum of all the other days of the year.
	www.shiningrise.com /seasons/solstice.htm (549 words)

	CNN.com - Winter solstice heralds new sun, old rituals - December 22, 2001
		The Earth, which travels in a slightly oval path around the sun, is actually 3 million miles closer to the sun on the December solstice than on the one in June.
		The December solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere leans furthest away from the sun, spawned numerous myths and traditions in the ancient world, some of which evolved into holiday celebrations in contemporary times.
		Early leaders of the Christian church in Western Europe, eager to establish a holiday marking the nativity of Jesus, selected December 25, in part because the residents of the Roman Empire were accustomed to celebrating deity birthdays in late December.
	archives.cnn.com /2001/TECH/space/12/21/winter.solstice/index.html (472 words)

	Winter Solstice - Newgrange Ireland
		The passage and chamber inside the ancient mound at Newgrange are illuminated by the winter solstice sunrise.
		Admission to the chamber at Newgrange for the Winter Solstice sunrise is by lottery.
		The Winter Solstice sunrise illuminates the passage way leading into the burial chamber of the megalithic passage tomb at Newgrange on the 21st December 2003.
	www.knowth.com /winter-solstice.htm (378 words)

	What is the Galactic Alignment? (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		The Galactic Alignment is the alignment of the December solstice sun with the Galactic equator.
		The precise alignment of the solstice point (the precise center-point of the body of the sun as viewed from earth) with the Galactic equator was calculated to occur in 1998 (Jean Meeus, Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, 1997).
		And position C is "era-2012", when the December solstice sun has converged, as a result of the precession of the equinoxes, with the exact center-line of the Milky Way (the Galactic equator).
	edj.net /mc2012/whatisGA.html (885 words)

	Newgrange - Winter Solstice sunrise - December 2002
		The winter solstice sunrise behind a standing stone, photographed from the entrance of the passage tomb at Newgrange.
		The white quartz stone beautifully illuminated by the winter solstice sunrise with a rainbow to complete a wonderful spectacle.
		Solstice literally means 'Sun Stands Still', for a few days around the time of the winter solstice the sun appears to stand still in the sky in that its elevation at noon does not seem to change.
	www.knowth.com /winter-solstice-2002.htm (175 words)

	Winter solstice celebrations of Christianity, Judaism, Neopaganism, etc
		One of the stones marked the position of the sun at the time of the winter solstice and were probably used in religious rituals.
		The solstice is the time of the death of the old sun and the birth of the dark-half of the year.
		At the solstices and equinoxes, the sun rises and sets at notches or peaks in the ridge which surrounded the calendar.
	www.religioustolerance.org /winter_solstice.htm (3384 words)

	APOD: 2000 December 21 - Solstice And Season's Eclipse (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		This celestial event is known as a solstice, marking the beginning of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere and Winter in the North.
		But this year, the solstice will be followed, on December 25th, by another geocentric celestial event -- the last eclipse of the millennium!
		It is representative of what could be seen from Washington D. during the December 25 eclipse maximum which, for that location, occurs at 12:41 PM ET.
	antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov /apod/ap001221.html (202 words)

	Ø Wilson's Almanac free daily ezine \| Book of Days \| December 22 \| Alban Arthan Midwinter Yule winter solstice ...
		winter solstice, in the Northern Hemisphere circa December 21 and in the Southern Hemisphere circa June 21.
		These were Winter Solstice celebrations in which worshippers led the goddess in the form of a golden cow, covered by a fl veil, seven times round the shrine of the dead Osiris in the temple of Helios in a perambulation called ‘the seeking for Osiris’.
		Greeks celebrated in the winter solstice the birth of the goddess Demeter (Ceres).
	www.wilsonsalmanac.com /book/dec22.html (3746 words)

	Solstice
		Solstice means "sun standing still." In the Northern Hemisphere, it is the first day of winter, the shortest day and longest night of the year, occurring on the 20th, 21st or 22nd of December.
		When it is winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun is directly overhead at noon only along the Tropic of Capricorn, on which lie Sao Paulo, Brazil, southern Madagascar, and northern Australia.
		To pagans, winter solstice was the night that the Great Mother Goddess gave birth to the new sun, restarting the cycle of the seasons.
	www.didyouknow.cd /xmas/solstice.htm (985 words)

	Solstice Season -- Winter, 2000 - 2001
		The solstice in December is the time when the days of the year, in our hemisphere, are the shortest.
		December 25, by the Julian calendar, was the Winter Solstice.
		By the time that the change to the Gregorian calendar caused the solstice generally to move back to 21 December, Christmas had become an “immovable feast” (unlike Easter) and so it continued to be celebrated on the 25th.
	www.americanatheist.org /win00-01/T2/ohair.html (2073 words)

	The Winter Solstice Festival
		Solstice means “the Sun standing still.” It signaled the return of the Sun and gave hope to early man. This was a cause for celebration and much of our winter holiday comes from solstice festivities--many aspects of which are related to fire and light and the rebirth of hope.
		Some 4,000 years ago, the Egyptians and Syrians celebrated the Winter Solstice as the “birth of the Sun.” The Egyptians even depicted the new-born Sun as an infant whose mother was the great goddess called the Heavenly Virgin.
		The Hanukkah “festival of lights” is clearly a metaphor for the Solstice’s lengthening of the light--the return of the Sun.
	www.ruyasonic.com /winter_solstice_festival.htm (3095 words)

	Winter Solstice 2006
		The mid December solstice marks the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
		The reason for the different seasons in the two hemispheres is that while the earth rotates around the sun, it also spins on its axis, which is tilted some 23.5 degrees.
		In ancient Rome, the winter solstice was celebrated at the feast of Saturnalia, while in pre-christian Britain the end of December centered around the pagan Yule log in a firey festival to help take the edge off a cold and dreary winter.
	www.chiff.com /home_life/holiday/winter-solstice.htm (383 words)

	December 2005 Holidays - School of the Seasons
		The key to the Underworld is one of her symbols, as is the diaper of the baby, indicating her role as mistress of the entire life cycle.
		Processions are held in her honor for several nights previous to and on December 18th, with people carrying Japanese lanterns, candles and figures of birds, a boat, banners displaying the sun and the moon and other objects made of flowers, leaves and colored paper.
		On the Winter Solstice, her worshippers sacrifice white female animals and thread the meat on sticks which they bentd into rings and tied with bright ribbons.
	www.schooloftheseasons.com /decdays2.html (4575 words)

	Northernmost Full Moon
		Year after year, the nearest full Moon to the December solstice mirrors the approximate position of the June solstice Sun amidst the stars.
		(December full Moons take place north of the constellation Orion, near the June solstice point at the border of the constellations Taurus and Gemini -- shown on this star chart, where the ecliptic intersects the 6-hour meridian extending from the north celestial pole to the south celestial pole.
		This December's northernmost full Moon preludes the year of Major Lunar Standstill, the subject of the upcoming January 2006 feature.
	www.idialstars.com /dfm.htm (921 words)

	Bruce Eisner's Vision Thing: December 2004 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		"In astronomy, the solstice is either of the two times a year when the Sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator, the great circle on the celestial sphere that is on the same plane as the earth's equator.
		In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs either December 21 or 22, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn; the summer solstice occurs either June 21 or 22, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Cancer.
		Thus the winter solstice, with which the decline of the year begins, comes in the seventh month after the summer solstice; so too sunrise comes in the seventh double hour after sunset.
	www.bruceeisner.com /new_culture/2004/12/index.html (1133 words)

	Happy Winter Solstice from Anitra & Friends
		Winter Solstice, usually December 21 or 22, is the longest night of the year.
		Many of the aspects of the ancient mid-winter Yule celebrations became Christmas traditions, part of celebrating "Christ Mass," the birth of the mighty Son.
		Today, there is a renewal of interest in the ancient traditions among people who feel that modern life has become unhealthily separated from the cycles of nature, and who celebrate the ancient traditions of Yule on Winter Solstice.
	members.tripod.com /~AmusedMuse/holidays/wintersolstice.html (151 words)

	Christmas Symbols Unit Study - December 25
		Most scholars agree that Christ was born in Autumn, not December (John the Baptist was born at Passover [Spring] and Jesus was born 6 months later).
		The Encyclopedia Romana tells us that "at the time of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian calendar), Saturnus, the god of seed and sowing, was honored with a festival...
		December 25th was the date of the winter solstice on the Julian calendar.
	www.athomeschool.com /unitstudy/christmas_symbols_04.htm (551 words)

	Winter Solstice<br>December 22
		An example of this would be the Winter Solstice, which occurs this year on December 22, 2003, and is the shortest day of the year.
		Winter Solstice is also a celebration of light and the rebirth of the sun.
		Winter Solstice or Yule was a celebration of the cycle of nature and a reaffirmation of the continuation of life.
	www.classbrain.com /artholiday/publish/winter_solstice_2.shtml (444 words)

	Winter Solstice \| December 2005 \| Celebration \| Date \| Season Change \| First Day Winter \| Northern Hemisphere
		Winter solstice marks the beginning of winter and it's also the shortest day of the year.
		Solstice means "standing still sun." There are lots of ceremonies that take place on the day the sun stands still.
		The winter solstice celebration was called Lenaea (Festival of the wild women).
	www.kidzworld.com /site/p1623.htm (329 words)

	December Newsletter
		A solstice is a time when the Sun momentarily pauses in this apparent migration as it reaches the greatest extremes of its "wanderings" and begins to "move" back in the opposite direction.
		The December solstice is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.
		The solstice is commonly referred to as the start of winter (or summer), but it is actually the midway point of the season from an astronomical perspective.
	www.windows.ucar.edu /tour/link=/newsletters/12_2005.html&fp=t (1381 words)

	December (2005) Skies
		In late December, Mars will be 8 times dimmer than at its peak of -2.3 in early November when it was at opposition and Earth was between the "Red Planet" and the Sun.
		The December Solstice is at 1:36 PM on the 21st.
		The Full Moon of December is the "Moon before Yule." It occurs at 11:14 AM EST on the eastern edge of Taurus on Dec. 15th.
	www.cloudynights.com /item.php?item_id=1276 (1626 words)

	Grace to You (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		December 25th is the traditional anniversary of the birth of Christ, but most scholars are unsure about the true date for Christ's birth.
		Recognizing their dependence on the sun's yearly course in the heavens, they held feasts around the winter solstice in December when the days are shortest.
		Regardless of the pagan background of so many December traditions, and whether or not Jesus was born on December 25th, our goal is still to turn the eyes of all men upon the true Creator and Christ of Christmas.
	www.gty.org /resources.php?section=issues&aid=176451 (309 words)

	Winter Solstice History, Symbols + Cartoon by Brownielocks.
		The winter solstice happens in the Northern Hemisphere on December 21 or 22; and, in the Southern Hemisphere on June 21 or 22.
		For about 6 days in late December (and again in late June), the sun appears to rise and set in almost the exact same spot, which give the solstices their name.
		The Winter Solstice marked victory of light over darkness or the end of the cycle of death and decay and the beginning of a new cycle of light, growth and life.
	www.brownielocks.com /wintersolstice.html (914 words)

	WORLD PEACE DAY /WINTER SOLSTICE DECEMBER 21, 2000 , by DON ORNE
		Don Orne and the Mayor of Jerusalem, Israel, 1996 During the 1996 Winter Solstice, Don planted a Peace Pole in Jerusalem, Israel, and dedicated one of the plaques to the Mayor of Jerusalem.
		Through the ages, the Winter Solstice has been honored as the most sacred day of the year by various cultures in many diverse ways.
		December 22, 99, the last Solstice of this millennium is of great importance.
	www.selfgrowth.com /articles/Orne1.html (1324 words)

	December
		The winter solstice, better known as the "first day of winter", officially begins this year (2005) at 1:35pm EST on December 21st.
		December 25th is for many people the focal day of the month.
		December 31, New Year's Eve, marks the end of another year, a time to reflect on things, and the midnight leap into the fourth year of the 21st century.
	www.hpedsb.on.ca /sg/quinte/december.htm (1048 words)

	Winter Solstice
		Winter Solstice marks the time of the year when the light returns as the sun shifts and starts to move northward again.
		The yule log is the counterpart of the midsummer bondfires, which are held outdoors on Summer Solstice to celebrate the shortest night of the year.
		It is also customary to place mistletoe around the fire, which is the plant that grew on the oak tree, sacred to the Druids, the priests of the old Celts.
	www.mindspring.com /~stardancer/winsols.htm (306 words)

	Winter Solstice (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		The night of December 21-22 will be the longest of the year, the day will be the shortest and the sun will cut it's smallest arc across the sky during the day.
		The length of the sun's daily appearance has been shrinking since the summer solstice as though it were aging and about to fade away.
		And at H2G2: Winter Solstice- It's irreverent and a tad cynical but there's quite a bit of information on a wide range of midwinter celebrations old and new.
	home.earthlink.net /~fetteroll/kiriena/worldreligions/holidays/pagan/solstice/wintersolstice.html (1176 words)

	KIDPROJ MCC: Winter Solstice - Several countries (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		Winter Solstice has been celebrated in cultures the world over for thousands of years.
		Emperor Aurelian established December 25 as the birthday of the "Invincible Sun" in the third century as part of the Roman Winter Solstice celebrations.
		We greet the Sun at dawn on Solstice morning by ringing bells, shaking tambourines, rainsticks, etc. We do magic for a more healthy planet and meditate for inner peace for all.
	www.kidlink.org /KIDPROJ/MCC/mcc0961.html (385 words)

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