Winter solstice in Oman commences

Muscat: The winter solstice for 2024 begins on Saturday in Oman, marking the first day of winter in the northern hemisphere.

This astronomical event starts at 1:20 PM, featuring the longest night and shortest day of the year.

 Wissal bint Salem Al Hinaai, Vice President of the Community Outreach Committee at the Oman Astronomical Society, explained to Oman News Agency that Sunday will have the shortest daylight, with sunrise in Muscat at 6:44 AM and sunset at 5:25 PM Oman time, making the day 10 hours and 41 minutes long.

The winter will last for 88 days, 23 hours, and 40 minutes. Al Hinaai clarified that the winter solstice occurs due to the tilt of Earth’s axis and its orbit around the sun. Since Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees, the northern and southern hemispheres alternately receive sunlight.

It is a common misconception that the seasons are due to Earth’s distance from the sun. In fact, Earth is closest to the sun (perihelion) during the northern hemisphere’s winter, indicating that the coldness of winter is due to the angle of solar rays, not the distance.

 During this phenomenon, the sun reaches its southernmost point in the sky, with the North Pole tilted away from the sun. Therefore, not all places on Earth experience sunrise and sunset on the winter solstice.

For example, north of the Arctic Circle, the sun remains below the horizon throughout day, while south of the Antarctic Circle, it stays above the horizon, a phenomenon known as the midnight sun.

 The sun rising from the southeastern horizon and its low apparent path marks the winter solstice. It is also observed that the shadows are longest during this time of the year.

 This phenomenon follows the autumnal equinox in September when the sun’s apparent movement gradually shifts southward after aligning with the equator.

This gradual decrease in daylight in the northern hemisphere culminates in the shortest day and longest night on the winter solstice, while the opposite occurs in the southern hemisphere.

 Al Hinaai noted that Earth has two motions: its rotation on its axis from west to east every 24 hours, resulting in day and night, and its orbit around the sun every 365.25 days, resulting in the four astronomical seasons.

 She concluded that during the winter solstice, it appears as if the sun rises from the same southern point for several days before starting its apparent northward movement again due to Earth’s orbit around the sun.

This continues until the day and night hours equalize at the spring equinox on March 20, 2025.