Jordanian Astronomical Society: Winter solstice and the beginning of the forty-day period on this date
Arab Weather - Dr. Ammar Al-Sakaji, head of the Jordanian Astronomical Society, said that the moment of the winter solstice this year will occur at 12:20 pm on Saturday, December 21 , Jordan time, as the sun is perpendicular to the Tropic of Capricorn, and the sun is in its apparent path at the lowest point in the sky, and the shadow is the longest of the year at noon, and this is considered the beginning of the winter season astronomically, as the night hours are the longest of the year and the daylight hours are almost the shortest, and the winter season continues astronomically until the moment of the autumnal equinox at 12:01 pm on Thursday, March 20, 2025, as the astronomical winter season lasts approximately 88 days, 23 hours and 40 minutes. This winter solstice occurs in the northern part of the Earth and at the same time the summer solstice occurs in the southern part of the Earth, and the sun is in the Sagittarius constellation at the moment of the winter solstice.
Astronomical details of the 2024 winter solstice
On this day, the sun rises at 7:32 and sets at 5:36 pm on the level horizon, where the length of the day is approximately ten hours and three minutes. "Astronomical twilight" begins at 6:05 am, when the first sunlight begins to disperse in the atmosphere. Then "nautical twilight" begins at 6:35 am, when the lights begin in the atmosphere and the Earth is distinguished from the sky with clear features. "Civil twilight" begins at 7:05 am, when the features of the Earth begin to appear and become clear and easy to distinguish. Noon or sunset occurs at 12:34 and the sun is at its lowest altitude, as its angle of elevation is 34.5 degrees towards the south, according to the time and geographical coordinates of Jordan. On the day of the winter solstice, the day is at its shortest and the day begins to lengthen until the autumnal equinox, when the hours of night and day are equal, until the day becomes its longest at the summer solstice, which occurs at 5:42 in the morning on June 21, 2025, where the difference between the length of the day at the winter and summer solstices is about 4 hours and 11 minutes.
Winter Square 2024
The winter forty-day period also begins on this day, and lasts for 40 days. After that, the winter fifty-day period lasts for approximately 50 days, that is, until the beginning of the astronomical fall. It begins with Saad Al-Dhabih, then Saad Bal’a, Saad Al-Su’ud, and Saad Al-Khabayya, and the duration of each of them is approximately 12.5 days.
The dates of the Saud are determined based on the "star calendar", where Saad Al-Dhabih begins with the appearance of a star called "Beta Capricorn" or "Dabih", the name is derived from the Arabic root "Dabih", which is a binary star in the constellation Capricorn, and its rising will be at 6:47 am on Saturday, February 1, 2025. This is the astronomical date of Saad Al-Dhabih. The Dabih star will rise almost horizontally and about 37 minutes before sunrise, and the chance of observing it increases after a few days when it appears high in the sky before sunrise for a sufficient period away from its glare.
We can observe the effects of the two solstices with a simple experiment, which is “observing the shadow.” At the winter solstice, when you stand at noon, you will notice the longest shadow of the year, and the shortest shadow is at the summer solstice.
The seasons are determined astronomically by the vernal equinox, the autumnal equinox, the summer solstice, and the winter solstice. These astronomical events are related to the dynamic rotational motion of the Earth around the sun, as well as the tilt of the Earth's axis of rotation around itself during its orbit around the sun, not the proximity or distance from the sun. The Earth's axis of rotation is as far away from the sun as possible at the moment of the winter solstice. It is worth noting that meteorologists have different definitions of the seasons, as the year is divided into four seasons, each lasting approximately three months. Winter begins on the first of December and ends on the last day of February.
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