On December 21, 2012, the most impressive part of humanity was expecting the end of the world - the end of the calendar on the Mayan calendar.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the longest night of the year acquired mystical significance. The ancient priests knew the astronomical phenomenon of the solstice, although they could not fully understand its causes.
Time of day, seasons
The complex astronomical system of which the Earth is a part is unique. It is established that concepts such as "day" and "night" are unknown for most planets located outside the solar system. Large clusters of stars, typical of the center of the Galaxy, do not leave planets and space objects that revolve around them without light radiation. At any point on our planet, when the Sun falls below 18 ° beyond the horizon, astronomical night sets in.
The life of an ancient person depended directly on nature, on its condition, on the change of seasons. He quickly established a pattern in the movement of the sun during the year, the dependence of the duration of periods favorable for agriculture on the height of the sun above the horizon. In the middle and high northern latitudes, where the lack of natural light is especially noticeable, the longest night of the year meant that the darkest time of the year had passed and the sun would linger a little longer in the sky.
Equinox and Solstice
The solstice is the period when the direction of the daily change of the highest point above the horizon, which the star reaches in the middle of the day, between sunrise and sunset, changes. Such a change - ascent or descent - is uneven, it slows down for several days when it seems that the sun at noon reaches almost the same height above the horizon. Hence the name of the days of the solstice.
Winter and spring in the Northern Hemisphere is a time when this climax point rises higher and higher daily. Day and night become the same in duration on the day of the vernal equinox (about March 20), which means the onset of astronomical spring. The rise of the midday point reaches its peak on June 20-21, and the reverse process begins.
Around September 22, the equinox marks the beginning of autumn in terms of the movement of the Sun and the Earth. Every day, daylight hours become shorter by several minutes, until the longest night of the year comes - the day of the winter solstice, the beginning of the astronomical winter.
Earth axis tilt
For each specific point on the surface of the globe, there are time and seasonal periods. The change of time of day and annual temperature cycles is affected by the revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the rotation of the planet around its axis. In this case, the axis of rotation is inclined by 23.5 °. Because of this, fewer direct sunlight falls on the surface of the Northern Hemisphere, and they do not reach the northern circumpolar regions for a long time at all, and in winter there comes a polar night.
At zero latitude - at the Earth's equator - the longitude of the day is approximately the same throughout the year and is about 12 hours. In the Southern Hemisphere, daylight hours have an inverse relationship to the time of year: from the last days of September to the end of March, it is more than 12 hours, in spring and summer - less. The longest night of the year in the southern latitudes falls on June 22.
Devices and tables
Determining the longitude of day and night has always seemed important for planning the economic activities of people. Even in the Middle Ages, special devices appeared, and data on the length of time of the day were published in calendars and holy calendar. From them it was always possible to determine how long the shortest day lasts. Different calendar systems adopted in different cultures, calendar reforms, and correction of the discrepancy between astronomical and civil time led to the fact that the day of the winter solstice annually differed in date.
Today, there is world time, in most European and American countries there is a Gregorian calendar, so you can find out what date is the longest night in the right area of the planet using special tables. So, in 2016, the winter solstice is December 21, at 10 hours 44 minutes. The night lasts for this day - 17 hours.
Traditions and rites
Since the Neolithic, the days of the solstice have found expression in the rituals and buildings of different nations. The stones of the famous Stonehenge are exposed in such a way as to indicate the position of the sun on a day that marks the beginning of an astronomical winter.
In the northern latitudes came a long period of expectation of spring, often the most difficult time of the year. We had to slaughter cattle because pasture disappeared , beer and wine harvested in the fall were ripening. The beginning of winter was accompanied by holidays. The Slavs had Kolyada, the Solstice, the Germans had Jodl on the day of the longest night.
People saw the important meaning of this day in that the longest night has passed, the day will begin to increase, which means that there is hope for a revival of nature, faith in infinite life. It is no coincidence that the feast of the Nativity of Christ is tied to the winter solstice .