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Mangaliso Kabulika
THE Meteorological Services Department has announced that the country will experience the shortest day and longest night of the year from today until Friday.
The Met Department said this is due to the Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. This is the time when the sun appears at its most northerly position, directly overhead, at the Tropic of Cancer.
“The Solstice usually but not always takes place on June 21.
“The date that it occurs can move forward or back by a day because the solar system doesn’t match up exactly to our calendar year,” reads the statement.
The Met Department said very cold mornings will be experienced in most parts of the country and there will be slight ground frost over the frost-prone areas such as Gweru, Lupane, Henderson and Matopo.
For those in the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer Solstice, which sees them having the longest day and the shortest night of the year, is usually on June 21.
“This year, the exact time of the cross-quarter moment between Bealtaine (early summer) and Lughnasadh (early autumn) is (today) at 9.51pm Irish time.
“In Gaelic, Solstice is ‘Grianstad,’ which literally means ‘sun-stop’ and this is one of the two great peak moments of the light and dark interplay in our universe.
“Directly opposite Winter Solstice, this Saturday is the peak of the sun’s highest climb into maximum light.
“However, it is the earth which is on an elliptical orbit around the sun which uniquely brings about this phenomenon.
“For several days after (today), the hours and minutes of daylight will remain almost exactly the same until June 25 (in the Northern Hemisphere), the light will imperceptibly begin to lessen as we move deeper into the second half of this season.
“In terms of light, Summer Solstice day is nine hours, 30 minutes longer than on Winter Solstice in December.”
Online Reporter