Winter solstice

During my ongoing literature review I often discover interesting facts about things I’ve never thought about. Sometimes I can connect these facts with my own observations: The result is mostly a completely new idea why things are as they are. Maybe these ideas are new to you, too. Therefore I’ll share my new science based knowledge with you!

This week: This time, I think about the winter solstice and the fact that the data gathering phase of one of my research projects is over.

Half a year ago, I wrote about Midsummer–the longest day in the northern hemisphere of our Earth[1]. At the summer solstice, the northern part of our Earth experiences the longest exposure to the sunlight during a whole year. At the exact same date, the southern part of our Earth experiences the shortest day of a year–the winter solstice. The reason behind this phenomen lies in the tilt of the rotation axis of the Earth relative to its orbital plane around the Sun. During one year–or an orbit around the Sun–the tilted rotation axis is causing the difference in the exposure to the sunlight.

Now, half a year after the first article, everything is flipped around. The Earth completed half of an orbit around the Sun and the northern hemisphere will experience the winter solstice tomorrow. In other words, the northern hemisphere has the longest night and the shortest day on December 21st. Regions north of the Arctic Circle will not have sunlight at all. These regions are now experiencing the polar night, because the Sun will not raise above the horizon. Moreover, it is the beginning of winter and this is hopefully resulting in freezing temperatures and a lot of snow!

Happy winter solstice everyone!

Schneeberg

Apart from the announcement of this special day during a year, I do have also other great news to share: the data gathering phase of one of my research projects is over. This week, I conducted a final test in order to determine possible positive effects of playing a particular computer game. Of course, the research project itself is not over yet. Now, I have to analyze the data and to write a paper about the results. Although this will result in a lot of work, it is still a nice feeling of having finished the most essential part of a research project.