The Winter Solstice, the moment when the Earth’s axial tilt is fully 23ยบ26′ from the sun, is Monday, December 21st, at 10:47 AM MT in the northern hemisphere. It is, of course, the Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Earth’s orbit is elliptical not circular. The earliest sunset (in the northern hemisphere) was around two weeks ago. The latest sunrise is in about two weeks.
But Monday is the shortest time between the two, the shortest daylight of the year in the northern hemisphere.
For more than 1600 years in western Europe the northern winter solstice was celebrated on December 25th, though astronomically it increasingly came later than that due to errors in the Julian calendar.
Several other sources I’ve seen place the solstice on Monday, Dec. 21, at 10:47 AM for Mountain Time (and Arizona), as opposed to 12:47 PM, as reported here. Do you know something I’m missing?
Correct you are. 17 less 7 is 10, not 12.
I made the change in the post.
Happy Winter Solstice, Ken!