SEE — Winter Solstice. Record your longest shadow on that day | history

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The winter solstice occurs on December 21

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

  • The winter solstice takes place this year on December 21 at 4:19 ET.
  • You can see your longest shadow on the winter solstice.
  • Be a scientist and get a pen, notepad and tape measure to record your shadow.
  • Countries along the Tropic of Capricorn have no shadows on the winter solstice.
  • Keep reading to find out which place on Earth has 24 hours of darkness.

If you’ve ever had dreams of becoming a scientist, you’ll get the chance to act like one on the winter solstice.

This is the day you can record your longest shadow ever!

No high-tech equipment is needed for this experiment—just a pen, notebook, measuring tape, a friend, and a sunny day.

The winter solstice, or as astronomers like to say, the December solstice, takes place this year on December 21 at 4:19 a.m. ET in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Northern Hemisphere is everything north of the equator.

For more on the science of the winter solstice, click on the video and keep reading to learn how to measure your longest shadow.

The shadow experiment

Jennie King, director of educator programs at Science World in Vancouver, British Columbia, told CBC Kids News that the best time to record your longest shadow of the day is around 8 p.m.

King recommended finding an open area outdoors that gets plenty of sunlight.

All you have to do is stand still in one place and then ask a friend to record the length of your shadow with the measuring tape.

“Because the sun is going to be so low in the sky at the winter solstice, you’ll notice that your shadow is quite long,” King told CBC Kids News.

A long shadow is on the ground from a person standing outside on a secured walkway.

People will see their longest shadows of the year on the winter solstice. (Image credit: Alex Linch/Shutterstock)

King suggested recording what you see that day: Write the date, time, location and length of your shadow in your notebook.

You can measure shadows of some outdoor objects, such as a fire hydrant or a stop sign, and add them to your notes.

Heidi White, an astronomer at the University of Montreal in Quebec, said children can continue to do this experiment a few months after the winter solstice at the same place and time of day.

This is because your shadow will be shorter in length compared to the day you recorded it on the winter solstice.

“You’ll be able to see your numbers change. It’s an opportunity for kids to be scientists,” White said.

What happens if it’s cloudy? So what?

If it ends up being a cloudy day on the winter solstice, you can still do the experiment when the sun comes out or the next day.

White said the weather can “be a little bit frustrating. Try the next day, try a few days after that.”

This is because the winter solstice is more of a gradual event compared to, say, a solar eclipse. You can measure your shadow a day or two later and still experience it.

White said it’s about the slow-moving change in “the length of the shadow throughout the year.”

Fun facts about the winter solstice

Did you know that there are some places on Earth that will see no shadows at all on the December solstice?

King said people living along the Tropic of Capricorn — an imaginary line south of the equator — won’t experience any shadows at all for a short period of time.

Some of these countries include Madagascar, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil.

A geographic map highlighting where the Tropic of Capricorn is located and which countries cross its path.

(Graphic design by Philip Street/CBC)

It’s called “solar noon” and it happens around 12 o’clock, when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky all day.

Another fun fact about the winter solstice is that areas below the Antarctic Circle will see 24 hours of sunlight that day.

Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the Earth, which is north of the Arctic Circle, there will be 24 hours of darkness.

If you think a full day of darkness is a lot, then you wouldn’t want to be on the planet Uranus during its winter solstice.

Uranus has a tilt of 98 degrees, meaning it is on its side.

That planet is also further away from the sun than Earth.

Since Uranus “has a really extreme tilt to its axis and a really long orbit, it makes the seasons and the periods of constant day and night really long,” White said.

That equates to about 21 years of winter and darkness!

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TOP PHOTO CREDIT: Ben Nelms/CBC, graphic design by Philip Street/CBC