Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Thursday, December 23rd.  The sun will rise at 8:17.  It’ll be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:06.   The moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 8:05 this evening.

Winter began 2 days ago. That’s when the sun reached the winter solstice, when the sun stopped its southward motion and began to head back up north. It was greeted with great relief by the ancients, who didn’t understand what was really going on. What if the sun continued southward and stayed below the horizon, even at noon? The joy over the turning of the sun northward was the impetus for the Roman festival of Saturnalia, whose celebrations were not very unlike today’s goings on of the quote… “Holiday Season.” with garlands of holly and mistletoe, gift giving and revelry. The early Christians apparently placed their celebration of the birth of Christ during this period so their joy would blend in with the pagan celebrations of that time.

* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.