The winter solstice will occur on Saturday, December 21, 2024, at 4:20 a.m. ET, marking the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. This happens due to the Earth’s 23.4-degree axial tilt, which causes the North Pole to tilt away from the Sun, resulting in shorter daylight hours. On this day, the Sun reaches its lowest point in the sky. For example, New York will experience 9 hours and 15 seconds of daylight, while Los Angeles will see 9 hours and 53 minutes.
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Interestingly, the earliest sunset doesn’t always fall on the solstice. In New York, the earliest sunset occurred on December 8 at 4:28 p.m. ET, but on the solstice, the sunset will happen four minutes later at 4:32 p.m. ET. While the solstice usually occurs on December 21 or 22, rare dates like December 20 and 23 are also a possibility. The last December 23 solstice happened in 1903, and the next will be in 2303. The longest night also provides an excellent opportunity for stargazing, with clear views of the Orion constellation and surrounding gas clouds.
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