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The 2024 winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, happens on Saturday, Dec. 21, in the Northern Hemisphere. The celestial event signifies the first day of winter, astronomically, CBS News reports.

What is the winter solstice?

The winter solstice is the day each year that has the shortest period of daylight between sunrise and sunset, and therefore the longest night. It happens when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn, a line of latitude that circles the globe south of the equator, the National Weather Service explains.

The farther north you are, the shorter the day will be, and in the Arctic Circle, the sun won't rise at all.

How is the day of the winter solstice determined?

The winter solstice occurs because of the Earth's tilt as it rotates around the sun.

When the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun, the nights last longer. The longest night happens on the solstice because the hemisphere is in its furthest position from the sun. That occurs each year on Dec. 21 or 22.

This year, it falls on Dec. 21 at 4:21 a.m ET, to be precise.

On the summer solstice, when the northern tilt is closest to the sun, we have the longest day, usually June 20 or 21.

The solstices are not always exactly on the 21st every year because the earth's rotation around the sun is 365.25 days, instead of 365 even.

Will days start getting longer after the winter solstice?

Yes. Each day after the solstice, we get one minute more of sunlight. It doesn't sound like much, but after just two months, or around 60 days, we'll be seeing about an hour more of sunlight.