Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 9:48 PM Universal Time (4:48 EST) is the winter solstice. This marks the start of astronomical winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern. For us in the north it marks the shortest day of the year. In Sarasota, FL the sun will be above the horizon 10 hours 25 minutes. In Chicago, IL 9 hours 7 minutes and in Seattle, WA 8 hours 25 minutes. In London, it’s all of 7 hours 49 minutes. The curious fact is that the earth is relatively close to the sun on the winter solstice: about 91.5 million miles. It doesn’t get much closer than that. Since the Earth will be 94.5 million miles away from the Sun on July 6, 2023, it’s safe to say that the biggest factor causing seasons is not distance, but rather the tilt of the earth’s axis.
My astronomy lesson for the day. 