Today is ‘shortest’ day

The word solstice comes from the Latin word solstitium, which translates to the sun ‘appearing to stand still in the sky’ when it reaches the Tropic of Capricorn, or the Tropic of Cancer for the Northern Hemisphere.

The event occurs in June where the amount of daylight is shortest in the Southern Hemisphere, and where the sun will shine for its longest period in the Northern Hemisphere.

A solstice occurs when the sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the equator.

Solstices occur twice a year, with one in June and one in December, winter and summer respectively.

For the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice (the longest number of daylight hours) is on or near December 21.