I am placing this article and my comments here because it is an event in the news.

Should the sun rise tomorrow, 12/21 is the shortest day of the year.

Now at mid-winter we can look expectantly towards spring as the days lengthen. NASA and other organizations are providing some pictures of the astrological event.

December 21st is the Winter Solstice.

Explanation: Tomorrow's solstice marks the southernmost point of the Sun's annual motion through planet Earth's sky and the astronomical beginning of winter in the north. In celebration of the northern winter solstice and the International Year of Astronomy 2009, you can watch a live webcast of the the solstice sunrise from the megalithic tomb of Newgrange, in County Meath, Ireland. Newgrange dates to 5,000 years ago, much older than Stonehenge, but also with accurate alignments to the solstice Sun. In this view from within the burial mound's inner chamber, the first rays of the solstice sunrise are passing through a box constructed above the entrance and shine down an 18 meter long tunnel to illuminate the floor at the foot of a decorated stone. The actual stone itself would have been directly illuminated by the solstice Sun 5,000 years ago. The long time exposure also captures the ghostly figure of a more modern astronomer in motion. To watch the live webcast follow the indicated link below. The webcast is planned to go live at 0830 coordinated Universal Time (for example, at 3:30am Eastern Time in the US) tomorrow, Sunday, the 21st.

Embedded links in the above at http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081220.html


Live streaming coverage of the
Newgrange Winter Solstice 2008 will be available here between 08:30 and 09:30 UTC on Sunday 21st December 2008.

http://www.servecast.com/opw/211208/index.html

wow that was interesting, thanks!