Winter solstice: What you need to know about Australia's shortest day
Today is the winter solstice in Australia, marking the shortest day and longest night of the year.
The winter solstice refers to the moment when Earth's southern or northern hemispheres reaches their furthest tilt away from the sun.
This happens once a year in each hemisphere, with the northern hemisphere's winter solstice occurring in late December and the southern hemisphere's winter solstice taking place in late June.
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Friday, June 21, is the winter solstice in Australia, shortest day of the year based on daylight hours. (Janie Barrett) Supplied Nine
It began at 6.51am AEST today for the southern hemisphere.
Here is what you need to know about the event:
When will the sun rise and set this winter solstice?
Sydney: Sunrise 7am, sunset 4.53pm
Melbourne: Sunrise 7.35am, sunset 5.08pm
Adelaide: Sunrise 7.23am, sunset 5.11pm
Hobart: Sunrise 7.42am, sunset 4.42pm
Brisbane: Sunrise 6.37am, sunset 5.01pm
Perth: Sunrise 7.16am, sunset 5.20pm
Darwin: Sunrise 7.06am, sunset 6.30pm
From the above chart, you can see the length of the day on the winter solstice will vary depending on latitude.
If you live in Sydney, there will be about nine hours and 54 minutes between sunrise and sunset today, while Darwin will enjoy 11 hours and 24 minutes. But spare a thought for Hobart which receives only nine hours.
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Many Aussies mark the Winter Solstice with a chilly swim in the ocean. (Janie Barrett) Supplied Nine
How is winter solstice celebrated?
Community events are being held this week across cities and towns in Australia, including bonfires and lantern parades.
While people attending them will be rugged up, spare a thought for a brave bunch of Australians in Antarctica based at the Davis research station.
They'll be continuing a tradition of swimming in the water no warmer than -2 degrees to mark the winter solstice. The hardy swimmers will enter the water through a hole cut out by a chainsaw from the thick ice.
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What happens after today?
Following the winter solstice, days will start to become longer, and nights will get shorter across Australia.
This trend will continue for the following six months until we reach the southern hemisphere's summer solstice in late December, marking Australia's longest day and shortest night of the year.
- Reported with Weatherzone
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