Sky tonight for this month

Thursday, December 16, 2010

SPACE wil celebrate Winter Solstice at Jantar Mantar, 22nd Dec

       SPACE will celebrate Winter Solstice at Jantar Mantar
                                 22nd Dec, 11:00am - 3:00 pm 

SPACE will celebrate Winter Solstice with Public Outreach at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.
  • Learn about all the Jantar Mantar instruments and see how they are used.
  • STEPL will conduct competitions on 'Measuring the Sun Angle' (Primary students) and 'Measuring the Circumference of the Earth' (Middle and Senior school students)

A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun's apparent position in the sky to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme.

On the day of Winter Solstice, North Pole tilts away from the Sun and South Pole tilts towards the Sun. The Winter Solstice occurs exactly when the earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the sun at its maximum of 23° 26'. So the Sun shines at lowest heights in Northern skies and at maximum heights at Southern skies. It results in the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere but at the same time it’s the longest day in Southern Hemisphere. So for people in Southern Hemisphere it’s a Summer Solstice.

Winter Solstice indicates winter at its peak. After this, the length of the day starts increasing and it reaches a point where day and night becomes equal in length at Vernal or Spring Equinox. The day continues to grow longer till Summer Solstice, the longest day.

The Winter Solstice will take place at 23:38 UT on 21st Dec (5:08 am IST on 22nd Dec) . In New Delhi, sunrise on winter solstice day is at 7:10 am and sunset is at 5:29 pm making it a day which is about 10 hours in duration. 

On Dec 22nd, SPACE will conduct a Public Outreach  in collaboration with Nehru Planetarium at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. The students from various schools of Delhi will be performing activities tracking the shadow created by the sun using the Jai Prakash Yantra, and participating in competitions. 

More information can be found at our blog http://wintersolsticeindia.blogspot.com/.
For details on competitions visit www.stepl.org
For telescopes, binoculars and cameras visit  www.spacearcade.in

No comments:

Post a Comment