Under relatively calm skies, the winter solstice will pause over the Midcoast at approximately 10:59 a.m., Dec. 21. The solstice marks that moment when the North Pole is tilted at its most distant position away from the sun, and Winter 2021-2022 officially begins.

It is a particularly good time to celebrate, because what follows is the Northern Hemisphere’s gradual tilt back toward the sun, to longer days, spring and summer. 

On Dec. 21, the skies will lighten with civil twilight at 6:38 a.m. and descend into darkness at 4:36 p.m. — Civil twilight, as defined by sunrisesunset.com, is: “when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon. In the morning this is known as dawn, in the evening it is called dusk. This is the limit at which twilight illumination is sufficient, under good weather conditions, for terrestrial objects to be clearly distinguished; at the beginning of morning civil twilight, or end of evening civil twilight, the horizon is clearly defined and the brightest stars are visible under good atmospheric conditions in the absence of moonlight or other illumination. In the morning before the beginning of civil twilight and in the evening after the end of civil twilight, artificial illumination is normally required to carry on ordinary outdoor activities.”

But the sun on Dec. 21 will officially rise at 7:11 a.m. and set at 4:02 p.m.

Here on the 44N parallel, we know that the skies begin to darken around 3:30 p.m. It’s that six-week reality check from through November and December.

Welcome, Winter!