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The winter of 2019-2020 begins this Sunday, December 22 at 5.19 hours (official peninsular time) and will last 88 days and 23 hours , ending on March 20, 2020 with the beginning of spring. During this winter there will be two eclipses , one of the Sun and the other of Luna, as well as one of the most important meteor showers throughout the year, according to calculations by the National Astronomical Observatory (OAN) , under the Ministry of Development .

Thus, on December 26 there will be an annular eclipse of the Sun that will be visible as partial at the eastern end of Africa , Asia and the northern half of Oceania . It will not be visible from Spain.

The first full moon of winter will occur on January 10, 2020, taking place the following 29 or 30 days later. This winter there will be two full moons: February 9 and March 9, 2020. In addition, this January 10 will take place a penumbral eclipse of the Moon that will be visible in Europe , Africa , Asia and Australia . It will also be visible in Spain .

During this winter, Mars will be visible at dawn all winter and Jupiter will join him in mid-January and Saturn in February. Venus will be visible at dusk throughout the season. Similarly, winter will offer two concealments of planets by the Sun : on December 27, when Jupiter's concealment will occur; and on January 13, that of Saturn .

As usual, meteor showers will also occur. The first important meteor shower of winter is that of the Quadrantids , whose maximum occurs towards January 3, although it is visible between December 28 and January 12.

As for the fictitious groups of stars, known as constellations, around the polar star will be seen throughout the night Cassiopeia , the Little Bear and Cepheus . The zodiac (ecliptic) constellations visible in this period range from Aquarius to Sagittarius . Above the ecliptic stand out Pegasus and the Big Dipper ; below, Orion .

And throughout the winter nights you can see the 12 brightest stars in the sky that are visible from the latitude in which Spain is located: Sirius , Arturo , Vega , Capela , Rígel , Proción , Betelgeuse , Altair , Aldebaran , Antares , Tang and Pollux .

The shortest day of the year

The beginning of the seasons is given, by agreement, for those moments when the Earth is in certain positions in its orbit around the Sun. In the case of winter, this position occurs at the point of the ecliptic in which the sun reaches its southernmost position. The day this happens, the Sun reaches its maximum South decline (-23º 27 ') and for several days its maximum height at noon does not change. This circumstance is also called winter solstice ('still sun'). At this moment, summer begins in the southern hemisphere.

The winter solstice day corresponds to the least daylight hours of the year. Around this date are the day when the sun rises later and the day it sets sooner. A circumstantial fact unrelated to the beginning of the seasons also occurs at this time: the day of the perihelion, that is, the day on which the Sun and Earth are closest to each other throughout the year. It is this greater proximity to the Sun that causes Earth to move more rapidly along its elliptical orbit during winter (according to what is known as Kepler's second law ) and therefore this season is the shortest.

On this occasion, the maximum approach will be given on January 5, 2020, the distance being just over 147 million kilometers, about 5 million kilometers less than at the time of aphelion or greater distance, which will be the July 4, 2020.

The beginning of winter can occur, at most, on four different calendar dates (December 20-23). Throughout the 21st century, winter will begin on December 20-22 (Spanish official date), with its earliest beginning being that of the year 2096 and the earliest beginning of 2003. Variations from year to year they are due to the way in which the sequence of years fits according to the calendar (some leap years, others not) with the duration of each orbit of the Earth around the Sun (duration known as the tropic year).

With respect to the duration of the day, the time that elapses between sunrise and sunset at a given place, this Sunday, December 22, will be the shortest day . In Madrid, for example, this duration will be 9 hours and 17 minutes. The longest day of the year was June 21: 15 hours and 3 minutes. The difference in hours depends on the latitude of the place, being null in the equator and being extreme (24 hours) between the polar circles and the poles.

The OAN recalls that the shortest day of the year does not coincide with the day when the Sun rises later and sets earlier, since the Earth's orbit around the Sun is not circular but elliptical, since the axis of the Earth is tilted in a direction that has nothing to do with the axis of said ellipse. Thus, the day the sun sets sooner will be December 7, 2020, while the day the sun will rise later will be January 5, 2020.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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