Why Is This The Shortest Day Of The Year?

Why Is This The Shortest Day Of The Year?

Story Published: Dec 26, 2002 at 7:59 PM PDT

Story Updated: Mar 13, 2008 at 1:13 PM PDT

By Steve Pool

SEATTLE - The Earth tilts on an axis as it orbits around the sun. In the Northern Hemisphere, Dec. 21 is the day when we are tilted the furthest away from the sun -- thus the sun appears lowest in the sky (about 19 degrees above the horizon at noon for Seattle). That means the sun spends the least amount of time above the horizon that day.

It's exactly opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, where the Earth is tilted closest to the sun, so for them, today's the first day of summer. So while we're bundling up, Australians hit the beach during the holiday season.

It works the opposite for summer on June 21. That's when we're tilted closest to the sun, and get the longest day of the year.

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