So, though we tend to think about the winter solstice as a day-long event, the term actually refers to a precise moment at which one half of the Earth — either the top or the bottom — is ...

What the winter solstice really means. The Earth’s poles do not sit directly north and south. Instead, the Earth sits at a constant tilt of about 23.5° off a vertical axis.

On July 9 — and two other upcoming dates — the moon will be at its maximum distance from the equator, Timeanddate.com notes.

Earth makes its closest annual approach of the sun about two weeks after the December solstice, during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. Earth is farthest from the sun about two weeks after the ...

The summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, falls on June 20 this year in North America, and ...