Solstice Phenomenon Will Happen This Week, Do Not Leave House

VIVA – Recently, there has been a message for do not leave the house on December 21, 2022. This is related to the solstice phenomenon that will happen on December 22, 2022, at 4:49 AM in West Indonesian time.

"Solstice is actually just an ordinary astronomical phenomenon," explained a researcher at the Space Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Andi Pangerang on BRIN's Edusainsa page, Sunday, December 18, 2022.

Moreover, solstice comes from the Latin language. It consists of two words, Sol which means Sun, and Stitium (verb form Sistere) which means a place to stop, stop or turn.

So, Solstice can be interpreted as the solstice of the Sun. Specifically, this phenomenon is defined as the event when the Sun is at its northern or southernmost point during its annual apparent motion concerning the celestial equator. This happens twice a year, in June and December.

The cause of Solstice is because the Earth's rotation axis is tilted 23.44 degrees to the plane perpendicular to the ecliptic (the ecliptic's north-south polar axis). 

"When the Earth rotates, as well as orbits the Sun, sometimes the North Pole and the northern hemisphere lean towards the Sun. While the South Pole is away from the South and the Solar Hemisphere during June," Andi Pangerang said.

While in December, the South Pole and Southern Hemisphere are inclined to the Sun, and the North Pole and a northern hemisphere are away from the Sun.

The impacts of the December Solstice include the Sun will culminate in the southernmost at midday, and the intensity of solar radiation will be maximum for moderate latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. As for the temperate latitudes of the northern hemisphere, the intensity of solar radiation will be minimum.

Others include the length of the day will be longer than the night, with the midnight Sun in the southern part of the Earth. While in the north the daytime will be shorter.

"The impact of solstice felt by humans is certainly not as extreme as narrated as in the misinformative and misleading appeals even though at that time there were volcanic eruptions, earthquake, tsunami, and tidal floods," he said.

Solstice is a purely astronomical phenomenon that can also affect the climate and seasons on Earth. Meanwhile, natural disaster phenomena are caused by volcanological, seismic, oceanic, and hydrometeorological activities respectively.