The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year. It occurs when the sun's daily maximum height in the sky is at its lowest, and the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the sun. This results in the least number of daylight hours and the longest night of the year.
Why will mornings still get darker after the Solstice?
A solar day is rarely 24 hours exactly. The sun therefore lags behind the clock for part of the year, and speeds ahead of it for another.
The length of a solar day varies because the axis of the Earth's rotation is tilted - 23.5 degrees from vertical - and because its speed fluctuates as it orbits the sun, accelerating when it is closer to the star's gravitational pull and decelerating when further away.
Read full article: Independent
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