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Google Doodle marks beginning of winter with hedgehog walking on snow

The Winter Solstice occurs on December 21. The northern hemisphere's winter season begins today and will remain until March 20, 2022.

Google Doodle marks beginning of winter with hedgehog walking on snow gcw
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New Delhi, First Published Dec 21, 2021, 9:30 AM IST

The Google Doodle for Winter 2021 features an animated image. It depicts a hedgehog wandering through the snow. Today's animated image is identical to one it tweeted on June 21 with the caption: "As the Earth tilts on its axis, people in the Southern Hemisphere prepare to relax for the next few months... Happy Winter Solstice! #GoogleDoodle."

The Winter Solstice occurs on December 21. The northern hemisphere's winter season begins today and will remain until March 20, 2022. The event, also known as the December solstice, hiemal solstice, or hibernal solstice, occurs when one of the Earth's poles is tilted away from the Sun at its most significant distance. As a result of being distant from the Sun, the day seems to have the shortest length of daylight and the longest night of the year.

This day is observed once a year on December 21 or 22, mostly in nations experiencing the winter season, such as the United Kingdom, the United States, India, Russia, China, and Canada. The winter solstice is also widely regarded as the 'birth of the sun'. In the hemisphere distant from the star, the days begin to lengthen after today, while the nights begin to shorten. The northern hemisphere is remote from the Sun on the December solstice, while the southern hemisphere begins astronomical summer. The term 'solstice' comes from the Latin scientific term 'solstitium.' While 'sol' refers to the Sun, the past participle of 'sistere' indicates "to stand." As a result, the approximate translation of solstice is 'sun standing still.'

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On Monday, a cold wave blasted across Delhi, with the minimum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory, the capital's official weather station, falling to 3.2 degrees Celsius, five degrees below average and the lowest so far this season.
 

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