December solstice
Annual solstice on 20-22 December
The December solstice, also known as the southern solstice, is the solstice that occurs each December, typically on 21 December, but may vary by one day in either direction according to the Gregorian calendar. In the Northern Hemisphere, the December solstice is the winter solstice (the day with the shortest period of daylight), whilst in the Southern Hemisphere it is the summer solstice (the day with the longest period of daylight). During the December solstice, the Sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, located in the Southern Hemisphere.
| event | equinox | solstice | equinox | solstice | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| month | March | June | September | December | ||||
| year | day | time | day | time | day | time | day | time |
| 2016 | 20 | 04:31 | 20 | 22:35 | 22 | 14:21 | 21 | 10:45 |
| 2017 | 20 | 10:29 | 21 | 04:25 | 22 | 20:02 | 21 | 16:29 |
| 2018 | 20 | 16:15 | 21 | 10:07 | 23 | 01:54 | 21 | 22:22 |
| 2019 | 20 | 21:58 | 21 | 15:54 | 23 | 07:50 | 22 | 04:19 |
| 2020 | 20 | 03:50 | 20 | 21:43 | 22 | 13:31 | 21 | 10:03 |
| 2021 | 20 | 09:37 | 21 | 03:32 | 22 | 19:21 | 21 | 15:59 |
| 2022 | 20 | 15:33 | 21 | 09:14 | 23 | 01:04 | 21 | 21:48 |
| 2023 | 20 | 21:25 | 21 | 14:58 | 23 | 06:50 | 22 | 03:28 |
| 2024 | 20 | 03:07 | 20 | 20:51 | 22 | 12:44 | 21 | 09:20 |
| 2025 | 20 | 09:01 | 21 | 02:42 | 22 | 18:19 | 21 | 15:03 |
| 2026 | 20 | 14:46 | 21 | 08:25 | 23 | 00:06 | 21 | 20:50 |
| 2027 | 20 | 20:25 | 21 | 14:11 | 23 | 06:02 | 22 | 02:43 |
| 2028 | 20 | 02:17 | 20 | 20:02 | 22 | 11:45 | 21 | 08:20 |
| 2029 | 20 | 08:01 | 21 | 01:48 | 22 | 17:37 | 21 | 14:14 |
| 2030 | 20 | 13:51 | 21 | 07:31 | 22 | 23:27 | 21 | 20:09 |
| 2031 | 20 | 19:41 | 21 | 13:17 | 23 | 05:15 | 22 | 01:56 |
| 2032 | 20 | 01:23 | 20 | 19:09 | 22 | 11:11 | 21 | 07:57 |
| 2033 | 20 | 07:23 | 21 | 01:01 | 22 | 16:52 | 21 | 13:45 |
| 2034 | 20 | 13:18 | 21 | 06:45 | 22 | 22:41 | 21 | 19:35 |
| 2035 | 20 | 19:03 | 21 | 12:33 | 23 | 04:39 | 22 | 01:31 |
| 2036 | 20 | 01:02 | 20 | 18:31 | 22 | 10:23 | 21 | 07:12 |
01Solar year
The December-solstice solar year is the solar year based on the December solstice. It is thus the length of time between adjacent December solstices.
The length of the December-solstice year has been relatively stable between 6000 BC and AD 2000, in the range of 49 minutes 30 seconds to 50 minutes in excess of 365 days 5 hours. This is longer than the mean year of the Gregorian calendar, which has an excess time of 49 minutes and 12 seconds. Since 2000, it has been growing shorter. In 4000, the excess time will be 48 minutes 52 seconds, and, in 10000, 46 minutes 45 seconds.
02The length of the day near the December solstice
The following tables contain information on the length of the day on 22 December, close to the winter solstice of the Northern Hemisphere and the summer solstice of the Southern Hemisphere (i.e. December solstice). The data was collected from the website of the Finnish Meteorological Institute on 22 December 2015, as well as from certain other websites.
The data is arranged geographically and within the tables from the shortest day to the longest one.
| The Nordic countries, Russia, and the Baltic states | |||
| City | Sunrise 21 Dec 2022 |
Sunset 21 Dec 2022 |
Length of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murmansk | , | , | 0 min |
| Apatity | , | , | 0 min |
| Bodø | 11:35 | 12:24 | 49 min |
| Rovaniemi | 11:07 | 13:22 | 2 h 15 min |
| Luleå | 9:54 | 13:03 | 3 h 9 min |
| Reykjavík | 11:21 | 15:29 | 4 h 8 min |
| Trondheim | 10:01 | 14:31 | 4 h 30 min |
| Tórshavn | 9:50 | 14:59 | 5 h 9 min |
| Helsinki | 9:23 | 15:12 | 5 h 49 min |
| Oslo | 9:17 | 15:11 | 5 h 54 min |
| Tallinn | 9:17 | 15:20 | 6 h 3 min |
| Stockholm | 8:43 | 14:47 | 6 h 4 min |
| Riga | 8:59 | 15:43 | 6 h 44 min |
| Copenhagen | 8:36 | 15:38 | 7 h 2 min |
| Vilnius | 8:39 | 15:53 | 7 h 14 min |
| Europe | |||
| City | Sunrise 22 Dec 2015 |
Sunset 22 Dec 2015 |
Length of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Petersburg | 10:00 | 15:53 | 5 h 53 min |
| Edinburgh | 8:42 | 15:40 | 6 h 57 min |
| Moscow | 8:57 | 15:58 | 7 h 00 min |
| Berlin | 8:15 | 15:54 | 7 h 39 min |
| Warsaw | 7:43 | 15:25 | 7 h 42 min |
| London | 8:04 | 15:53 | 7 h 49 min |
| Kyiv | 7:56 | 15:56 | 8 h 00 min |
| Paris | 8:41 | 16:56 | 8 h 14 min |
| Vienna | 7:42 | 16:03 | 8 h 20 min |
| Budapest | 7:28 | 15:55 | 8 h 26 min |
| Rome | 7:34 | 16:42 | 9 h 07 min |
| Istanbul | 8:25 | 17:38 | 9 h 13 min |
| Madrid | 8:34 | 17:51 | 9 h 17 min |
| Lisbon | 7:51 | 17:18 | 9 h 27 min |
| Athens | 7:37 | 17:09 | 9 h 31 min |
| Africa | |||
| City | Sunrise 22 Dec 2015 |
Sunset 22 Dec 2015 |
Length of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cairo | 6:47 | 16:59 | 10 h 12 min |
| Tenerife | 7:53 | 18:13 | 10 h 19 min |
| Dakar | 7:30 | 18:46 | 11 h 15 min |
| Addis Ababa | 6:35 | 18:11 | 11 h 36 min |
| Nairobi | 6:25 | 18:37 | 12 h 11 min |
| Kinshasa | 5:45 | 18:08 | 12 h 22 min |
| Dar es Salaam | 6:05 | 18:36 | 12 h 31 min |
| Luanda | 5:46 | 18:24 | 12 h 38 min |
| Antananarivo | 5:10 | 18:26 | 13 h 16 min |
| Windhoek | 6:04 | 19:35 | 13 h 31 min |
| Johannesburg | 5:12 | 18:59 | 13 h 47 min |
| Cape Town | 5:32 | 19:57 | 14 h 25 min |
| Middle East | |||
| City | Sunrise 22 Dec 2015 |
Sunset 22 Dec 2015 |
Length of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tehran | 7:10 | 16:55 | 9 h 44 min |
| Beirut | 6:39 | 16:33 | 9 h 54 min |
| Baghdad | 7:02 | 16:59 | 9 h 57 min |
| Jerusalem | 6:35 | 16:39 | 10 h 04 min |
| Manama | 6:21 | 16:51 | 10 h 30 min |
| Doha | 6:15 | 16:49 | 10 h 34 min |
| Dubai | 7:00 | 17:34 | 10 h 34 min |
| Riyadh | 6:32 | 17:10 | 10 h 37 min |
| Muscat | 6:43 | 17:23 | 10 h 41 min |
| Sanaa | 6:25 | 17:38 | 11 h 13 min |
| Americas | |||
| City | Sunrise 22 Dec 2015 |
Sunset 22 Dec 2015 |
Length of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inuvik | , | , | 0 h |
| Fairbanks | 10:58 | 14:40 | 3 h 41 min |
| Nuuk | 10:22 | 14:28 | 4 h 06 min |
| Anchorage | 10:14 | 15:42 | 5 h 27 min |
| Edmonton | 8:48 | 16:15 | 7 h 27 min |
| Vancouver | 8:05 | 16:16 | 8 h 11 min |
| Seattle | 7:55 | 16:20 | 8 h 25 min |
| Ottawa | 7:39 | 16:22 | 8 h 42 min |
| Toronto | 7:48 | 16:43 | 8 h 55 min |
| New York City | 7:16 | 16:32 | 9 h 15 min |
| Washington, D.C. | 7:23 | 16:49 | 9 h 26 min |
| Los Angeles | 6:55 | 16:48 | 9 h 53 min |
| Dallas | 7:25 | 17:25 | 9 h 59 min |
| Miami | 7:03 | 17:35 | 10 h 31 min |
| Honolulu | 7:04 | 17:55 | 10 h 50 min |
| Mexico City | 7:06 | 18:03 | 10 h 57 min |
| Managua | 6:01 | 17:26 | 11 h 24 min |
| Bogotá | 5:59 | 17:50 | 11 h 51 min |
| Quito | 6:08 | 18:16 | 12 h 08 min |
| Recife | 5:00 | 17:35 | 12 h 35 min |
| Lima | 5:41 | 18:31 | 12 h 50 min |
| La Paz | 5:57 | 19:04 | 13 h 06 min |
| Rio de Janeiro | 6:04 | 19:37 | 13 h 33 min |
| São Paulo | 6:17 | 19:52 | 13 h 35 min |
| Salt Lake City | 7:48 | 17:03 | 9 h 14 min |
| Porto Alegre | 6:20 | 20:25 | 14 h 05 min |
| Santiago | 6:29 | 20:52 | 14 h 22 min |
| Buenos Aires | 5:37 | 20:06 | 14 h 28 min |
| Ushuaia | 4:51 | 22:11 | 17 h 19 min |
| Asia-Pacific | |||
| City | Sunrise 22 Dec 2015 |
Sunset 22 Dec 2015 |
Length of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magadan | 8:54 | 14:55 | 6 h 00 min |
| Petropavlovsk | 9:36 | 17:10 | 7 h 33 min |
| Khabarovsk | 8:48 | 17:07 | 8 h 18 min |
| Ulaanbaatar | 8:39 | 17:02 | 8 h 22 min |
| Vladivostok | 8:40 | 17:40 | 8 h 59 min |
| Beijing | 7:32 | 16:52 | 9 h 20 min |
| Seoul | 7:44 | 17:17 | 9 h 34 min |
| Tokyo | 6:47 | 16:31 | 9 h 44 min |
| Shanghai | 6:48 | 16:55 | 10 h 07 min |
| Lhasa | 8:46 | 19:01 | 10 h 14 min |
| Delhi | 7:09 | 17:28 | 10 h 19 min |
| Hong Kong | 6:58 | 17:44 | 10 h 46 min |
| Manila | 6:16 | 17:32 | 11 h 15 min |
| Bangkok | 6:36 | 17:55 | 11 h 19 min |
| Singapore | 7:01 | 19:04 | 12 h 03 min |
| Jakarta | 5:36 | 18:05 | 12 h 28 min |
| Denpasar | 5:58 | 18:36 | 12 h 37 min |
| Darwin | 6:19 | 19:10 | 12 h 51 min |
| Papeete | 5:21 | 18:32 | 13 h 10 min |
| Brisbane | 4:49 | 18:42 | 13 h 52 min |
| Perth | 5:07 | 19:22 | 14 h 14 min |
| Sydney | 5:41 | 20:05 | 14 h 24 min |
| Auckland | 5:58 | 20:39 | 14 h 41 min |
| Melbourne | 5:54 | 20:42 | 14 h 47 min |
| Dunedin | 5:43 | 21:28 | 15 h 44 min |
| Invercargill | 5:50 | 21:39 | 15 h 48 min |
Length of day increases from the equator towards the South Pole in the Southern Hemisphere in December (around the summer solstice there), but decreases towards the North Pole in the Northern Hemisphere at the time of the northern winter solstice.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “December solstice”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Earth-lighting-winter-solstice EN.png by Image by Przemyslaw "Blueshade" Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0
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