THE LONGEST NIGHT
Also known as the winter solstice, the longest night of the year usually happens on the
21st or 22nd December in our northern hemisphere. You’ll notice that the sun is low in the
sky, the opposite to a high sun in summer. Centuries ago people used to be afraid that the
disappearing light would never return unless they had a celebration. In countries such as
Norway and Denmark, people burned logs believing that they could make the sun brighter.
Why do we have a long
night? It’s all to do with
our side of the Earth
leaning away from the
sun in what is called
a tilt, so it doesn’t
receive as much light.
It’s the opposite on
the other side of the
world where the day length with sunshine is
more than 12 hours. When the Earth moves
around the sun, it tilts at an angle. The top
part of the Earth stays in the same position
so as our planet spins around, sometimes it
tilts towards the sun. In December the north,
where we are, is tilted far away from the sun,
resulting in colder temperatures.
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