Winter Season Google Doodle: Today’s animated Google feature celebrates winter solstice

Google celebrated the winter solstice in its latest animated doodle, which featured an animated hedgehog walking on the snow. December 21 marks the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. This event is also known as December solstice, hiemal solstice or hiberbal solstice.

But what happens during the winter solstice? During a winter solstice, the Sun’s path appears farthest from north or south, depending on which half of the planet you’re on due to which seasons change on Earth because the planet is slightly tilted on its axis as it travels around the Sun. This implies the shortest day and longest night of the year for locations in the northern half of the globe like the US while the southern part of the globe is experiencing the longest day and shortest night.

Thus, all locations north of the equator witness daylength shorter than 12 hours and all locations south of the equator see daylength longer than 12 hours, according to NASA. Countries witnessing winter season in the Northern Hemisphere are India, China, Russia, Canada, the UK and the US.

“After the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the days will get longer and the nights shorter until the summer solstice on June 21, 2022, when things reverse. The March equinox on March 20, 2022, will mark the beginning of the astronomical spring season and the September equinox on September 22, 2022, will mark the beginning of the astronomical fall,” NASA said on what will happen after the winter solstice.

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