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Winter solstice

Ben Domensino, Wednesday June 21, 2017 - 16:38 AEST

Today will be the shortest day of the year in Australia.

The winter solstice occurs in Australia today, marking the moment the southern hemisphere reaches its furthest tilt away from the sun. At this moment in time, the sun appears at its northernmost point relative to Earth's equator, causing this to be the shortest day of the year in the southern hemisphere.

From tomorrow, the sun will appear to progressively move higher in our sky, causing each day to become slightly longer than the last until the summer solstice in late December.

While the solstices are used in some countries to mark the beginning or end of winter and summer, the Australian seasons are defined by calendar months. Winter commences at the start of June, while summer begins on December 1st. This is in line with the definitions used in the United Kingdom and has the additional benefit of making is easy to compare statistics at seasonal and monthly scales.

The latest sunrise of the year actually occurs a few days after the solstice. So, while this is the year's shortest day, mornings actually will continue to get darker in the near future.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2017

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