The Barlow Planetarium in Menasha. PC: Fox 11 Online
MENASHA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Thursday at 9:27 p.m. marks the official start of winter. Dec. 21, 2023 is known as the “winter solstice” because it’s the day of the year with the shortest amount of daylight hours.
“The winter solstice is when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted as far away from the sun as possible,” said Ty Westbrook, outreach specialist for the Barlow Planetarium in Menasha. “Our Earth is tilted about 23.5 degrees with respect to the sun, from vertical. And when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away, we get the least amount of sunshine. So, the days are short.”
Westbrook also explained how sunrise and sunset times are different for everyone. “The latest sunrise and earliest sunset happen at different times. That’s based on your latitude — where you are.”
To show you what it looks like from space, the sun points directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, which means the solar energy is greatest in the Southern Hemisphere. In contrast, the solar energy output is at its lowest in the Northern Hemisphere.
As far as how long the daylight hours are for us, we will see 8 hours, 49 minutes and 27 seconds. Then we will gradually start to increase daylight hours as we head into spring.
If you’re interested in “seeing” the difference in the sun’s altitude throughout different times of the year, Barlow Planetarium is the place to go.
“Here at the planetarium, some of these things are much easier seen than explained. We’ve got planetarium shows, matinee shows all next week. If you come to any of those shows, I will show you [the difference] on the dome. It’s much easier just to see it happening,” said Westbrook.
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