Tour Scotland 4K travel video, with beautiful Scottish music, of Winter Solstice Sunset, before Christmas, on ancestry history visit and trip to the West Coast of the Isle of Skye, Inner Hebrides, Britain, United Kingdom. Winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. This year the official winter solstice, also known as the hibernal solstice, takes places on Friday 22 December 2023. The sun will set at approximately 15:54, marking the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year. The days as a whole do get longer on 23 December because on this day the returning light in the evening finally outweighs the still diminishing morning light. The winter solstice occurs on the day when the sun’s apparent altitude reaches its lowest point at noon. In celestial terms, this is when the sun reaches its greatest declination south of the celestial equator, a line in the sky created by projecting the Earth’s equator onto the stars, since the Earth’s north pole leans as far away from the sun as possible. The change in the sun’s declination around the solstice is very slow, as it rounds a curve and begins to rise up towards the equator again. The winter solstice is often described as the shortest day of the year. By default, this makes it the longest night, and an occasion worth celebrating. Ancient cultures saw it as a time of rebirth, welcoming back the light, a view maintained by many to this day. Skye is almost 50 miles long, and its coastline is so deeply indented that no part is more than 5 miles rom the sea. Skye was occupied in prehistoric times and settled by Gaelic speaking Scots from Ireland. Norsemen ruled the island from the 9th to the 12th century. Thereafter, while the kingdom of Scotland claimed the island, the Lords of the Isles maintained independent control of the Hebrides until the 15th century. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries the poverty of the crofters was extreme, and large numbers were forced to emigrate. Sea fishing industry, once a mainstay of the economy, has declined, but commercial fish farming, particularly of salmon, is now an important part of the local economy. By the meteorological calendar, the first day of Winter is always 1st December in Scotland; ending on 28th of February. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day. Find things to see and do in Scotland where you are always welcome
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