Solstice

"In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer." -Albert Camus As the year draws to a close, we approach a very special time of year, at least from an astronomical perspective. This Saturday, December 21st, will mark the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere (or the Summer Solstice in the Southern), or the date where the Earth's axis is tilted its maximal amount away from (or towards) the Sun, as viewed from an observer in the Northern (or Southern) Hemisphere. Image credit: Mrs. Snyder at the Seven Hills School. While it's pretty common knowledge…
"Tell me what you feel in your room when the full moon is shining in upon you and your lamp is dying out, and I will tell you how old you are, and I shall know if you are happy." -Henri Frederic Amiel Tonight is a special night, although not for the reasons you may think. Yes, it's just a few days after Christmas and before the new year, but tonight is the night of the Full Moon closest to the winter solstice. Image credit: Judy Stone-Goldman. Up here in the northern hemisphere (above the Tropic of Cancer), December 21st corresponds to the winter solstice, or the shortest day in terms of…
"Nature is relentless and unchangeable, and it is indifferent as to whether its hidden reasons and actions are understandable to man or not." -Galileo Galilei All of science is rooted in the idea that natural phenomena can be explained naturally, and that if we want to know how anything in the Universe works, all we need to do is ask the Universe the right questions, and the answers will appear. So what about the question of the night sky, and why it appears to rotate the way it does? Image credit: Peter Michaud (Gemini Observatory), AURA, NSF. There are two straightforward explanations for…
"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made." -Groucho Marx Now that the solstice is behind us and summer is officially here (for most of us), it's time to start enjoying the greatest fruits of the season. With the technical difficulties of the great scienceblogs migration (hopefully) behind us, I think I've discovered how to successfully bring a weekly song back to my weekend posts, too! Have a listen to Aimee Mann as she sings one of my favorites of hers, Little Bombs. Out where I live, in Oregon, now is the season that one of my favorite fruits…
"Soon the earth will tilt on its axis and begin to dance to the reggae beat to the accompaniment of earthquake. And who can resist the dance of the earthquake, mon?" -Peter Tosh Every year, there are two special days where every place on Earth receives the same amount of sunlight -- 12 hours -- split evenly between night and day: the equinoxes! Image credit: timeanddate.com. Like all known objects that revolve around another due to gravity, the Earth rotates along its journey around the Sun. But on those two days of the equinox (from the Latin, meaning "equal nights"), the Earth's axis-of-…
Arrgh. Fremont is just crawling with Pastafarians. Photos below the fold. More Solstice parade pictures.