[NC28203]

>>>"Around 60 people turned up to celebrate the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge Thursday - on the wrong day."

Since the winter solstice is the point when the sun is at its greatest distance from the equatorial plane (according to the story, occurring just past midnight on the 22nd) revelers there on the evening of the 21st might have been closer to the correct time of the solstice than those that arrived on morning of the the supposed correct day of the 22nd.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Since the winter solstice is the point when the sun is at its greatest distance from the equatorial plane (according to the story, occurring just past midnight on the 22nd) revelers there on the evening of the 21st might have been closer to the correct time of the solstice than those that arrived on morning of the the supposed correct day of the 22nd.


No... The writer's dexcsription makes no sense. At least not if you're trying to make some sort of sense about what the pagans/anti-Christians are trying to "worship."

The earth's orbit about the sun establishes the "equatorial plane," which is actually a near-circular eclipse (see Copernicus and Kepler, etc.) At the (north hemisphere winter solstice the earth is actually closer to the sun than it is at the summer solstice, but the 24.5 deg tilt actually means its colder in winter than in summer - obviously.

But the earth's tilt is what apparently "moves" the sun north of south of the equatorial plane: but that's a angular displacement, not a linear displacement as the writer implies. And actually, at the mid-winter soltice the sun is at it MINIMUM value (elevation) from the horizon, not its maximum.

So, what do these pretend pagans think they are worshipping? The "dawn" of the first day "after" the minimum sun's point?

The dawn of the first day as the sun starts moving back from the southeast (at dawn) to the northeast? The "moment" the sun meets it lowest point (which happened at midnight or so?) The end of "longest night" of the year?

I guarantee you, the ancient priests who actually USED Stonehenge would have known.

[HungarianGypsy]

Since the winter solstice is the point when the sun is at its greatest distance from the equatorial plane (according to the story, occurring just past midnight on the 22nd) revelers there on the evening of the 21st might have been closer to the correct time of the solstice than those that arrived on morning of the the supposed correct day of the 22nd.

Our local weatherman even stated it was approximately sunset of the 21st.