It is time for my seasonal astronomy "non tech tip". Some of this post is a repeat of last year's one, but I have made some updates.
As we approach the December solstice on the 21st at 2:22 PMPST (http://earthsky.org/earth/everything-you-need-to-know-december-solstice) it might be good to know that the coming season is the shortest of the four! (http://earthsky.org/tonight/years-shortest-season-starts-with-december-solstice) due to the Earth being closer and moving faster (fun physics!) than in summer. Our spring and summer are a few days longer than our fall and winter!
Another strange seasonal fact is that sunsets are slightly longer at the solstices than at the equinoxes (http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/longest-sunsets-around-solstices) due to the angle of the sun's path to the horizon. At our latitude the sun will take more than 4 minutes to set at the winter solstice. Where I am off to next week, the sun sets in just over 2 minutes!
The earliest sunset in Victoria will be next week (Dec 11, 4:18 PM) and we will have the latest sunrise right around the New Year (8:05 AM) - in time for return to school!
The shortest day in Victoria is still the 21st at 8 hours 18 minutes and 36 seconds! (almost 8 hours less than in June!) (https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/canada/Victoria)
For the latter part of December, I will be in Antarctica where the day may be almost 20 hours long on December 21st
Have a wonderful holiday season! Make the best of those brief daylight hours!
:)
Let me know if you have any questions or would like more information.
These tips are now being archived at the following location in a blog format: http://smustechtips.blogspot.ca
You can see a list of all the tips here: http://smustechtips.blogspot.ca/p/toc11.html
Also, please let me know if you have any tips you would like to share!
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