The winter solstice has arrived but what's the silver lining to the year's shortest day
The Southern Hemisphere's winter solstice will occur on June 21.
This marks Australia's shortest day and longest night of the year based on sunlight hours. But the good news is that from then on Aussies will get an incremental increase in the amount of visible sunlight each day.
Counting the three days on either side of the solstice date gives you the seven-day period with the least amount of daylight during the year.
Australia's darkest week of 2025 will run from Wednesday, June 18, to Tuesday, June 24.
The exact time of this year's solstice is 12:42pm for eastern states and just after midday for the Northern Territory and South Australia.
For West Australians, a 10:42am solstice will result in Friday night being the longest of the year.
The word 'solstice' comes from two Latin root words 'sol' and 'sistere'. It means 'sun' (sol, as in where we derive 'solar') and 'to stand still' (sistere). Literally meaning, when the sun stands still.
READ MORE: Floods, drought, dust and climate hypocrisy
Due to the axis tilt on which the Earth orbits, the world experiences two solstices and two equinoxes.
The summer solstice occurs on December 21.
It's the opposite in the northern hemisphere. Meanwhile, the equinoxes occur in March and September.
Each date heralds the official start of a new season.
Meanwhile, the summer solstice is the longest day of the year with the shortest night.
From June 22, the days will start to get longer with an incremental increase in the amount of sunlight we see each day.
The winter solstice has typically been shrouded in an air of mythological filled with paganism and superstition in ancient cultures.
The Southern Hemisphere's winter solstice will occur on June 21.
This marks Australia's shortest day and longest night of the year based on sunlight hours. But the good news is that from then on Aussies will get an incremental increase in the amount of visible sunlight each day.
Counting the three days on either side of the solstice date gives you the seven-day period with the least amount of daylight during the year.
Australia's darkest week of 2025 will run from Wednesday, June 18, to Tuesday, June 24.
The exact time of this year's solstice is 12:42pm for eastern states and just after midday for the Northern Territory and South Australia.
For West Australians, a 10:42am solstice will result in Friday night being the longest of the year.
The word 'solstice' comes from two Latin root words 'sol' and 'sistere'. It means 'sun' (sol, as in where we derive 'solar') and 'to stand still' (sistere). Literally meaning, when the sun stands still.
READ MORE: Floods, drought, dust and climate hypocrisy
Due to the axis tilt on which the Earth orbits, the world experiences two solstices and two equinoxes.
The summer solstice occurs on December 21.
It's the opposite in the northern hemisphere. Meanwhile, the equinoxes occur in March and September.
Each date heralds the official start of a new season.
Meanwhile, the summer solstice is the longest day of the year with the shortest night.
From June 22, the days will start to get longer with an incremental increase in the amount of sunlight we see each day.
The winter solstice has typically been shrouded in an air of mythological filled with paganism and superstition in ancient cultures.
The Southern Hemisphere's winter solstice will occur on June 21.
This marks Australia's shortest day and longest night of the year based on sunlight hours. But the good news is that from then on Aussies will get an incremental increase in the amount of visible sunlight each day.
Counting the three days on either side of the solstice date gives you the seven-day period with the least amount of daylight during the year.
Australia's darkest week of 2025 will run from Wednesday, June 18, to Tuesday, June 24.
The exact time of this year's solstice is 12:42pm for eastern states and just after midday for the Northern Territory and South Australia.
For West Australians, a 10:42am solstice will result in Friday night being the longest of the year.
The word 'solstice' comes from two Latin root words 'sol' and 'sistere'. It means 'sun' (sol, as in where we derive 'solar') and 'to stand still' (sistere). Literally meaning, when the sun stands still.
READ MORE: Floods, drought, dust and climate hypocrisy
Due to the axis tilt on which the Earth orbits, the world experiences two solstices and two equinoxes.
The summer solstice occurs on December 21.
It's the opposite in the northern hemisphere. Meanwhile, the equinoxes occur in March and September.
Each date heralds the official start of a new season.
Meanwhile, the summer solstice is the longest day of the year with the shortest night.
From June 22, the days will start to get longer with an incremental increase in the amount of sunlight we see each day.
The winter solstice has typically been shrouded in an air of mythological filled with paganism and superstition in ancient cultures.
The Southern Hemisphere's winter solstice will occur on June 21.
This marks Australia's shortest day and longest night of the year based on sunlight hours. But the good news is that from then on Aussies will get an incremental increase in the amount of visible sunlight each day.
Counting the three days on either side of the solstice date gives you the seven-day period with the least amount of daylight during the year.
Australia's darkest week of 2025 will run from Wednesday, June 18, to Tuesday, June 24.
The exact time of this year's solstice is 12:42pm for eastern states and just after midday for the Northern Territory and South Australia.
For West Australians, a 10:42am solstice will result in Friday night being the longest of the year.
The word 'solstice' comes from two Latin root words 'sol' and 'sistere'. It means 'sun' (sol, as in where we derive 'solar') and 'to stand still' (sistere). Literally meaning, when the sun stands still.
READ MORE: Floods, drought, dust and climate hypocrisy
Due to the axis tilt on which the Earth orbits, the world experiences two solstices and two equinoxes.
The summer solstice occurs on December 21.
It's the opposite in the northern hemisphere. Meanwhile, the equinoxes occur in March and September.
Each date heralds the official start of a new season.
Meanwhile, the summer solstice is the longest day of the year with the shortest night.
From June 22, the days will start to get longer with an incremental increase in the amount of sunlight we see each day.
The winter solstice has typically been shrouded in an air of mythological filled with paganism and superstition in ancient cultures.
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But the good news is that from then on Aussies will get an incremental increase in the amount of visible sunlight each day. There were - to use the journalist's favourite literary device - 'sealier' places to be than soaking up the sun just off Newcastle Ocean Baths on a near-perfect winter's day on Friday. It boasted a pristine sky, fair surfing conditions and clean sets off the Cowrie Hole. Awash in a warm and sunny 19 degrees, and just off the back of the Newcastle Ocean Baths, a bulky Australian fur seal luxuriated in the serenity as the surfers gave it a respectful berth. The fur seal - which, along with their long-nose cousins, frequent the Hunter - is a somewhat regular visitor to the ocean baths. Lifeguards on Friday morning, speaking of the big pup like an old friend, said it drops by usually around this time of year to check in. Its whiskers just crested the water line as is bobbed between the swell. Time seemed to slow down as residents and shutterbugs mingled to take it in. "This is a process called thermo-regulating," a spokesperson for Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia told the Newcastle Herald in 2023, when another seal was spotted off the Nobbys breakwall similarly waving a flipper as it floated. "When they get too hot, it helps them cool down." Friday's sunshine was expected to gradually give way to cloudier conditions, with a chance of showers toward the middle of next week. Surf conditions are expected to remain fair through Sunday, with a swell just above two feet, at waist height. Southern swell spots were making the best of the conditions, surf forecasters said, with chest-high waves for the short boards, or the sheltered zones optimal for the longboards on the incoming tide. The southern hemisphere's winter solstice is on Saturday, June 21. It marks Australia's shortest day and longest night of the year based on sunlight hours. But the good news is that from then on Aussies will get an incremental increase in the amount of visible sunlight each day. There were - to use the journalist's favourite literary device - 'sealier' places to be than soaking up the sun just off Newcastle Ocean Baths on a near-perfect winter's day on Friday. It boasted a pristine sky, fair surfing conditions and clean sets off the Cowrie Hole. Awash in a warm and sunny 19 degrees, and just off the back of the Newcastle Ocean Baths, a bulky Australian fur seal luxuriated in the serenity as the surfers gave it a respectful berth. The fur seal - which, along with their long-nose cousins, frequent the Hunter - is a somewhat regular visitor to the ocean baths. Lifeguards on Friday morning, speaking of the big pup like an old friend, said it drops by usually around this time of year to check in. Its whiskers just crested the water line as is bobbed between the swell. Time seemed to slow down as residents and shutterbugs mingled to take it in. "This is a process called thermo-regulating," a spokesperson for Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia told the Newcastle Herald in 2023, when another seal was spotted off the Nobbys breakwall similarly waving a flipper as it floated. "When they get too hot, it helps them cool down." Friday's sunshine was expected to gradually give way to cloudier conditions, with a chance of showers toward the middle of next week. Surf conditions are expected to remain fair through Sunday, with a swell just above two feet, at waist height. Southern swell spots were making the best of the conditions, surf forecasters said, with chest-high waves for the short boards, or the sheltered zones optimal for the longboards on the incoming tide. The southern hemisphere's winter solstice is on Saturday, June 21. It marks Australia's shortest day and longest night of the year based on sunlight hours. But the good news is that from then on Aussies will get an incremental increase in the amount of visible sunlight each day. There were - to use the journalist's favourite literary device - 'sealier' places to be than soaking up the sun just off Newcastle Ocean Baths on a near-perfect winter's day on Friday. It boasted a pristine sky, fair surfing conditions and clean sets off the Cowrie Hole. Awash in a warm and sunny 19 degrees, and just off the back of the Newcastle Ocean Baths, a bulky Australian fur seal luxuriated in the serenity as the surfers gave it a respectful berth. The fur seal - which, along with their long-nose cousins, frequent the Hunter - is a somewhat regular visitor to the ocean baths. Lifeguards on Friday morning, speaking of the big pup like an old friend, said it drops by usually around this time of year to check in. Its whiskers just crested the water line as is bobbed between the swell. Time seemed to slow down as residents and shutterbugs mingled to take it in. "This is a process called thermo-regulating," a spokesperson for Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia told the Newcastle Herald in 2023, when another seal was spotted off the Nobbys breakwall similarly waving a flipper as it floated. "When they get too hot, it helps them cool down." Friday's sunshine was expected to gradually give way to cloudier conditions, with a chance of showers toward the middle of next week. Surf conditions are expected to remain fair through Sunday, with a swell just above two feet, at waist height. Southern swell spots were making the best of the conditions, surf forecasters said, with chest-high waves for the short boards, or the sheltered zones optimal for the longboards on the incoming tide. The southern hemisphere's winter solstice is on Saturday, June 21. It marks Australia's shortest day and longest night of the year based on sunlight hours. But the good news is that from then on Aussies will get an incremental increase in the amount of visible sunlight each day.
