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The 2020 winter solstice, which marks the beginning of the astronomical winter, takes place on December 21. This event is doubled in 2020 by a spectacular astronomical phenomenon: “The Great Conjunction”, a rather rare encounter of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, according to the Astronomical Observatory “Admiral Vasile Urseanu”.
Google marks this double astronomical event with a special “doodle”, a graphic animation: “Celebrating winter 2020 and the Great Conjunction!” is the explanation of the special graphics of the search engine.
If the calendar winter arrives on December 1, the beginning of the astronomical winter is marked by the time of the winter solstice. It is related to the apparent annual movement of the Sun in the celestial sphere, which is the consequence of the actual movement of the Earth around the Sun.
December 21 is the shortest day in 2020, and from now on, for three months, until the vernal equinox, the duration of light gradually begins to increase until it equals night.
The winter solstice is one of the four great astronomical times of the year, along with the spring and autumn equinoxes and the summer solstice.
“Grand conjunction” could be an explanation for “Star of the Magi”
If you could only observe the sky one night in 2020, choose the night of December 21! This is the advice given by the specialists of the Bucharest Astronomical Observatory. This is because this longest night of the year also coincides with a very rarely occurring astronomical phenomenon, known as the “grand conjunction”: the largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, will apparently be very close. each other, so close that they will look like a double star. It has been said that this is, in fact, the explanation of the “Star of the Magi”.
The two planets have not been as close and bright as they will be on December 21 800 years ago. On the winter solstice of December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will appear, seen from Earth, as a single bright star, because the orbits of the two planets, 12 and 29 years, respectively, align.
What time is the Great Conjunction?
The two planets have already been seen in the same area of the sky since July. They will be in the same constellation and, as they move in the Solar System, they will move among the stars, approaching each other.
The minimal and rare approach (it will happen only in 2080), will take place in the last two weeks of December, the best time being the night of December 21. Then, around 6:00 p.m., they’ll look to the southwest, not very high in the sky. The two planets will be almost indistinguishable from each other, and through the telescope you will be able to see in the same field the rings of Saturn and the cloud bands of Jupiter, along with the satellite systems of the planets, says the Astronomical Observatory.
What happens on the winter solstice?
The time of the winter solstice 2020 in Romania will be, on Monday, December 21, two minutes after noon, that is, at 12:02.
Solstice means “still sun” and marks the first astronomical winter day in the Northern Hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. This astronomical event is related to the apparent annual movement of the Sun in the celestial sphere, which is a consequence of the actual movement of the Earth around the Sun. In the southern hemisphere of the Earth, the phenomenon occurs in reverse, a moment that marks the beginning of the astronomical summer.
On the winter solstice date, the Sun rises 23 ° 27 ‘south of the eastern cardinal point and sets at the same angle south of the western cardinal point. At noon it “rises” – taking into account the average latitude of our country, 45 ° – to only 21 ° from the horizon. Consequently, on this date, the length of the day has a minimum value of 8 hours and 50 minutes per yearand the duration of the night has the maximum value, 15 hours and 10 minutes (for Bucharest).
Obviously, in the southern hemisphere of the Earth the phenomenon occurs in reverse, a moment that marks the beginning of the astronomical summer. On the day of the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, the summer solstice is in the southern hemisphere.
The winter solstice occurs when the height of the Sun above the horizon and the diurnal interval are minimal (south of the southern polar circle, the Sun does not rise and is at the maximum angle below the horizon). It is the day of the year that daylight has the shortest duration in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest duration in the South.
The axis of the poles of the Earth is inclined 66 ° 33 ‘from the plane of the Earth’s orbit. For this reason, within a year, the Sun travels the circle of the celestial sphere called “ecliptic”, whose inclination towards the celestial equator is 23 ° 27 ‘. At the time of the winter solstice, the Sun is in the southern hemisphere of the celestial sphere, at a maximum angular distance of 23 ° 27 ‘south of the equator, it performs diurnal movement along the circle parallel to the celestial equator, called “Tropic of Capricorn”. This explains, for the middle latitudes of the Earth, the inequality of days and nights, as well as the succession of seasons, shows the Astronomical Observatory “Admiral Vasile Urseanu”.
The time of the winter solstice, respectively the beginning of the astronomical winter, takes place around December 21, but it is not a fixed time, which should occur at the same time. In 2019, for example, the winter solstice took place on December 22 at 06:19.
In any case, from the date of the winter solstice until June 21, when it will be the summer solstice, the length of the days will continually increase and the length of the nights will decrease accordingly.
Popular beliefs about the solstice
The first written reference to a holiday marking the return of the Sun (solstice) was found in ancient times in Mesopotamia. The 12-day holiday was meant to help the god Marduk tame the monsters of chaos for another year, Agerpres writes.
In general, the solstice is perceived as a struggle between good and evil.
For pagans, this was the night that the Great Goddess gave birth to the new Sun, thus restarting the cycle of the seasons.
On this day, the Romans celebrated Saturn, the god of crops, and Mitra, the god of light, according to the volume “Days and Myths: the Romanian Peasant’s Calendar”, by Ion Ghinoiu.
Romanian customs around the winter solstice preserve the memory of the violent sacrifice of the adored god, replacing it with the sacred tree, fir or oak, symbolically cut and cremated on Christmas night, with the bull, represented by a mask, Capra, Brezaia, Ţurca, who, after accompanying some groups of Christmas carols, is symbolically killed and, especially, with the pig, a Neolithic representation of the spirit of wheat, ritually sacrificed to the Ignatian Pigs (December 20).
Hundreds of megalithic structures are dedicated to the solstice throughout Europe, America, Asia and the Middle East. Even the peoples who observed the lunar calendar marked the two solstices in one way or another.
In Europe, stone constructions to measure the position of the Sun have been discovered at Stonehenge, England, and Newgrange, Ireland. According to the researchers, the Stonehenge stones date from approximately 2050 BC. C. and it is assumed that they were placed so that the light of the setting sun on the date of the winter solstice fell in a certain way.
It is said that the solstice is not good to be alone, but you have to spend the longest night of the year in the company of someone. In some parts it is customary to climb a hill and light logs. It is also customary to give alms to needy people.
Editor: Luana Pavaluca
