After Solstice there is a period of standstill where the days remain the same length. Sometime around the 25th and 26th December the days start lengthening. Quite literally, the “Son” (sun) is “born.”
This year it was the 23rd December, where we gained an extra 7 seconds of daylight. The days will lengthen to an average of two minutes a day until we see a full extra hour of sunlight by January 18, 2023.
Interestingly, the days actually begin to feel a bit longer two weeks before the Winter Solstice. The earliest sunset of the year happens on Wednesday, December 7 2022.
This is because of the Earth’s elliptical orbit around the Sun. The planet moves faster in its orbit during January when we’re closest to the Sun, and slower in July, when we’re further away. The Sun’s path through the sky, when charted on a day to day basis, appears as an “analemma” - a figure-8 pattern.
Because of this pattern, the meridian is rarely at exactly noon, and can be 15 minutes out. This is discrepancy is known as the “Equation of Time” and sundial owners will know it well.
This looping path explains why the earliest and latest sunrises fail to coincide with the solstices.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy your day and your Turkey/Nut Roast dinners later! Sending lots of love from the cemetery.
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