JEDDAH - The globe will reach the point of the winter solstice tomorrow, Tuesday, December 21, at 06:59 pm Mecca time, and the sun will be shining directly on the tropic of Capricorn, which is a sign of the beginning of the winter season, which lasts two months and 27 days and 11 hours and 34 minutes in the northern half of our planet.

The head of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, Eng. Majed Abu Zahra, stated that the winter solstice occurs due to the tilt of the Earth's axis and its movement around the sun, and because the Earth during its rotation around the sun is not vertical, but tilted by 23.5 degrees, so the northern half and the southern half exchange places in receiving sunlight. Therefore, the tilt of the Earth - and not the distance that separates it from the Sun - is the reason for the occurrence of the four seasons.

And he indicated that the North Pole is tilted away from the sun on the day of the winter solstice, and the sun apparently reaches the southernmost point of the sky, so all locations north of the equator have a day length of less than 12 hours, while areas south of the equator the day is longer than 12 hour.

It is noteworthy that on the day of the winter solstice, dawn is observed late, and the sun rises from the far southeast, and the arc of the apparent path of the sun in the dome of the sky is low, and at noon (the meridian) the shadows of things are at their maximum length during the year, and then sunset comes early.