PAGASA to mark Friday as winter solstice, not end of world

December 20, 2012 7:41am

Friday will not quite be the end of the world as some groups claim, but will merely mark the winter solstice as far as state weather forecasters are concerned.

PAGASA administrator Nathaniel Servando said the solstice is when the Sun will lie at its farthest point south of the equator.

In the agency's astronomical diary for December, Servando said the solstice will occur at 7:12 p.m. Philippine Standard Time.

"This marks the time when the Sun lies at its farthest point south of the equator. It signals the onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere. The Philippine nights will be longer than daytime. Earth has now completed another annual circuit around the Sun," he said.

Some groups had claimed December 21 will mark the end of the world, citing natural disasters are "happening more frequently than ever."

However, the Sydney Observatory noted the date merely marks one of the main turning points in the year, with the others being the equinoxes and the summer solstice in December.

"From then on we can start to look forward to longer days, but only slowly," it said. — LBG, GMA