Winter officially begins at 2:44 AM. on December 22, 1999. Winter solstice
means the Sun is as low as it gets in the sky all year. Watch for long
shadows in the daytime. The SUMMER solstice is when the Sun is as high
as it gets in the sky, and there are almost no shadows at midday. Spring
and fall are equinoxes.
The low angle of the Sun and short days make for a cold winter season
in Canada, but the nights are great for stargazing. Have a look at the
full moon on solstice night. If it looks bigger than usual, that's because
it is. As the Moon orbits the Earth, it is sometimes closer, sometimes
farther away because the orbit is not a perfect circle (ellipse).
On Decmber 22, the Moon is as close as it gets to Earth all year. The
closer an object is to us, the bigger it looks.
