Dec. 21, 2025

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice
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The shortest day of the year, ancient traditions, and how cultures celebrate the return of light.

You may also like ODD ONE OUT. a new podcast with Mark Ellison!  Mark gives you 4 words, you decide which word does not belong.  Three rounds daily, quick and fun,

Portions of today's trivia podcast were made with the help of AI.

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Calarogu Shark Media. Hi. I'm Mark Ellison and today's theme

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is Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, Ancient

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traditions and how cultures celebrate the return of light. Question one.

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On the Northern Hemisphere's winter Solstice, daylight is shortest and

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the sun takes its lowest arc across the sky. What

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single astronomical factor is primarily responsible for this rather than

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how far Earth is from the sun? Question two? Built

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around three thy two hundred BCE, which neolithic monument in

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Ireland is engineered so that the rising sun on the

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Winter Solstice shines through a special roof box to illuminate

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its inner chamber? Question three. In East Asia's Dong festival

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marking the Winter Solstice, family gather to welcome the lengthening

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of days. In southern China, what colorful, sweet glutinous rice

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balls are traditionally eaten to symbolize reunion and completeness? Question four.

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Many observers notice the earliest sunset arrives in early December

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and the latest sunrise in early January, not exactly on

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the winter solstice. What is the name of the effect

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caused by Earth's axial tilt and elliptical orbit that shifts

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apparent solar time relative to clock time. Question five, Which

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Iranian celebration marks the year's longest night with gatherings featuring

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pomegranates and watermelon, readings of the poet Hafez, and a

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vigil passed midnight to greet the return of light. We'll

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be right back with these answers after this break. Welcome back.

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Question one. What causes the winter Solstice's shortest day? Answer

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Earth's axial tilt. Earth is tilted about twenty three point

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five degrees, so in December, the northern hemisphere leans away

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from the Sun, shortening daylight. Earth's sun distance plays little role.

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In fact, Earth is near perihelion, closest to the Sun

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in early January. Question two, which Irish monument lights up

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at winter solstice sunrise? Answer? New Grange. New Grange, a

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passage tomb in County Meath, predates Stonehenge and the Egyptian Pyramids.

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Its precise solstice alignment shows sophisticated prehistoric astronomy and ritual

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attention to the return of light. Question three, what sweet

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is eaten at dung to symbolize reunion? Answer Tang Yuan

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tangyuan are round glutinous rice balls served in a light syrup.

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Their name and shape of oak, unity and togetherness. In

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northern China, some families eat dumplings instead, but the theme

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of warmth and renewal is shared. What effect explains why

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the earliest sunset isn't on the solstice? Answer? The equation

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of time. Because the apparent solar day length varies over

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the year, solar noon drifts relative to our clocks. This

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equation of time offset separates the dates of earliest sunset

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and latest sunrise from the solstice itself. Question five. What

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is Iran's longest night celebration called answer? Yalda night Shabi

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Yalda Rooted in ancient Persian traditions. Yalda falls around December

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twentieth twenty one, the last night of the month Asar.

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It symbolizes light's victory over darkness as days begin to

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lengthen after the solstice. That concludes today's five daily trivia questions.

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I'm Mark Ellison, and today's questions were crafted with the

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help of AI technology. See you tomorrow.