Midvinterblot. Painting by Carl Larsson in the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts depicting a legend from Norse mythology in which the Swedish king Domalde was sacrificed at Midwinter in order to avert a famine.
The December solstice or Winter Solstice will occur at 05:30 UTC (11:30 a.m. CST) on December 21, 2011. December solstice occurs annually on a day between December 20 and 23. Officially, Winter Solstice is listed as 05:30 UTC or Greenwich Mean Time on December 22, 2011. Chicago time is in the Central Time Zone (UTC -6) or six hours behind Greenwich Mean Time.
Winter Solstice is also known as the Shortest Day, the Longest Night, Midwinter and Yule.
Astronomically the day marks the end of shortening daylight period and the end of lengthening night time periods.
This year’s Winter Solstice is especially dark because of the Waning Moon — a sliver of a crescent Moon that will be gone on December 24, 2011 — Christmas Eve.