December 22nd marks the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and the summer solstice south of the equator. It's the first day of winter here in the north, the first day of summer in the south. Here in the northern hemisphere the solstice is the "shortest" day of the year with the fewest hours of daylight. On Thursday the days will start getting longer.
You might have the impression that the days are already getting longer and that is because the earliest sunsets were the first two weeks of December. Sunsets are already happening a minute or two later. The order of events at winter solstice is earliest sunset, shortest day then latest sunrise which will occur January 5th.
At the December solstice the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, the southern tipped toward our star. At the spring and fall equinoxes the Sun is above the equator. This is the reason we have seasons! Interestingly, Earth is closest to the Sun on January 4th and furthest on July 4th!
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