PH to experience longest night on Sunday

“Philippine nights will be longer than the daytime,” the state weather bureau said in its list of astronomical events for December 2019. (Pixabay photo)

MANILA— The Philippines will experience 2019’s longest night on December 22 as the Sun reaches the winter solstice, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.

“Philippine nights will be longer than the daytime,” the state weather bureau said in its list of astronomical events for December 2019.

“The sun will reach the winter solstice on December 22 at 12:19 p.m. (Philippine standard time),” it noted.

Winter solstice marks the time when the sun lies at its farthest point south of the equator.

PAGASA pointed out this signals the onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and also means the Earth has now completed another annual circuit around the sun.

For the Philippines, which has no winter season, the event means cooler temperatures and shorter days ahead.

On the day of the winter solstice, the night is at its longest and the day at its shortest, and also marks Earth’s completed annual circuit around the sun.