December 22, 2019

Geography was my favorite subject at school. The various concepts and theories never failed to captivate my imagination. Reading about Solstice’s, Equinox’s, Eclipse’s, and many other things always made me think if only I could ever witness these wonders.

In the year 2017, I finally had the opportunity to visit the Tropic of Capricorn in Chile for the very first time. However, our timing was just a few hours shy of experiencing the summer solstice.
At this location, during the December solstice, the Sun stands directly overhead, at an elevation of 90 degrees. This day marks a significant turning point in the Sun’s apparent journey across the sky. It seems to pause its southward movement upon reaching this latitude and then begins its northward course again. At that precise moment, objects that stand upright, such as flagpoles and telephone poles, cast no shadows, and our own shadows are directly beneath us. It was a moment of nature’s magic that I had hoped to witness, even though we narrowly missed it on that occasion.

I forever desired to experience this incredible phenomenon, and this time, we were resolute in ensuring we wouldn’t miss it. It required days of meticulous planning and an enormous amount of effort, even though it seemed almost impossible to fit into our busy schedule. After numerous revisions and adjustments, we ultimately crafted “THE PLAN” and, against all odds, executed it flawlessly. (I must confess, planning a trip to Chile on your own is one of the most demanding challenges.)

In 2019, during the December Solstice, also known as the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere, the event occurred at 1:22 pm Antofagasta time. Surprisingly, it wasn’t at the stroke of 12:00 pm, a common misconception I had always held—believing the Sun to be directly overhead at noon. Instead, it transpired at what’s referred to as “solar noon,” which may or may not coincide with our conventional clock noon due to variations in local time zones. Solstices, despite occurring simultaneously worldwide, exhibit differing local times depending on one’s location.

It was so cool to see our shadows disappearing, a joy to behold!

I encourage everyone to mark their calendars for the upcoming Solstice and seize the opportunity to observe the Sun on this astronomically significant day.