Solstice countdown

[TortoiseAWD]

I think pretty much everyone from the northern latitudes is looking forward to this, whether you're astro-geeky enough to know it or not: Dec. 22 is the shortest day of the year (the winter solstice), now only 17 days in the future.

Yeah, it'll still be cold and crappy for a couple more months, but after the 22nd, we'll be getting more and more daylight each day. Seasonal Affective Disorder sufferers rejoice!

Tort
(sick of driving home from work in the dark)

[Hemi57]

Yeah but, in the Southern Hemisphere it is the longest day and summertime

[Spilchy]

Originally Posted by TortoiseAWD

...(sick of driving home from work in the dark)

Or going to work when it is dark.

Is this when I can balance an egg on it's point?

[TortoiseAWD]

Originally Posted by Spilchy

Or going to work when it is dark.

Is this when I can balance an egg on it's point?

That would be the vernal equinox (the beginning of spring, when day and night are of equal length) . . . and it's a myth: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_089.html

You can stand an egg on end any day of the year; it just takes patience and steady hands.

Oh, and as a quick primer for anyone that isn't familiar with the terms: There are two solstices and two equinoxes each year. The solstices (winter and summer, around Dec. 21/22 and June 21/22) are the shortest and longest days of the year, and the equinoxes (March 21/22 and Sep. 21/22) occur when day and night are the same length. Each solstice or equinox marks the beginning of a new season.

Those dates show above are for the northern hemisphere; for those down under, their summer solstice is coming up (their seasons are opposite ours).

Tort
(Orbit faster, dammit!)

[Hemi57]

TortoiseAWD, a bit of useless trivia for you that you maybe don't know, here in OZ we change season on the 1st of the month. Why I don't know.

[Spilchy]

Originally Posted by TortoiseAWD

That would be the vernal equinox (the beginning of spring, when day and night are of equal length) . . . and it's a myth: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_089.html

You can stand an egg on end any day of the year; it just takes patience and steady hands.

Why must you burst bubbles all the time and debunk everything Tort? You and your snopes and straightdope!

I wanted to balance an egg

[cwcad]

after having spent nearly thirty years in Alaska's arctic, this is a date that brings very good memories. For a construction worker the longer the days the longer the hours. Alas, now it only means that i will soon leave Texas to go back to work. With the days getting longer it is only a short time for the construction season to begin.

[Neothin]

Woot! More time for detailing the rides!

cwcad, do they really make you guys work in winter up in alaska? How cold is it when the construction season starts?

[Setec Astronomy]

And here I thought this was a Pontiac thread...

[cwcad]

Originally Posted by Neothin

Woot! More time for detailing the rides!

cwcad, do they really make you guys work in winter up in alaska? How cold is it when the construction season starts?

Some jobs are better suited for winter. The best example is oil pipeline work. Once the oil is found there needs to be a road built which is made of ice. Then a pad is needed to put the pipeline on. All this work needs to be freezing when it is done. The ideal temperature is minus twenty degrees. The colder it is the better. Once a pipeline job is started it is very seldom shut down short of near zero visibility during a snow storm. Temperature is never a factor. Only visibility. There were weeks that the high of the day never got out of the fifty below range.

I now only work highway construction in Alaska. The company I work for usually starts at the end of March and works to the middle of October.

[G35stilez]

It'll be that much closer to summer .

[a.k.a. Patrick]

I for one, appreciate the short and cool days. I actually like knowing, in the springtime, that days are getting shorter! Fall and Winter are by far my most treasured times of the year.
I hate the heat, and I hate the summer sun!