On Tuesday, December 21, Google celebrated the beginning of winter 2021 with a super cute animated doodle. The Google doodle features an animated graphic cute hedgehog walking on the snow. Google uploaded this doodle on December 21, as the day celebrates the commencing of the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.
It is also known as December solstice, haemal solstice or hibernal solstice.
Have a look at the super cute doodle here:-
So, what is the winter solstice?
Winter Solstice occurs when either of the earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sunday. This phenomenon occurs twice a year – North pole as well as South pole. Due to this tilt, half of the planet witnesses the shortest hours of sunlight (shortest day) and longest cold nights.
The December solstice or winter solstice occurs for around three months. It starts from December 21 or 22 to March 20 or 21 and this year it will commence from December 21, 2021, to March 20, 2022.
This solstice is witnessed by the countries with the winter season, including, India, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada.
The winter solstice occurs around 09:28 pm IST, when the Earth's north pole points directly away from the sun and the sun is directly over the tropic of Capricorn, at about 23.4 degrees south. According to drikpanchang, the Winter Solstice sunrise will be at 7:10 am and the sunset will be at 5:29 pm.