“天時人事日相催，冬至陽生春又來。”大家都知道，冬至是北半球全年中白天最短、黑夜最長的一天，但是你可能不了解的是，冬至卻不是日出最晚、日落最早的一天。本文就帶你了解幾個關于冬至的趣味小知識。

1. THE WORD SOLSTICE TRANSLATES TO "SUN STAND STILL."

冬至英文solstice的意思是“太陽靜止不動”

Solstice derives from the Latin term solstitium, containing sol, which means "sun," and the past participle stem of sistere, meaning "to make stand." This comes from the fact that the sun’s position in the sky relative to the horizon at noon, which increases and decreases throughout the year, appears to pause in the days surrounding the solstice.

冬至英文solstice源于拉丁文solstitium，sol意思是“太陽”，stitium是sistere的過去分詞形式，意思是“停下來”。這是基于對正午時分太陽在天空中位置的觀察，太陽的位置會隨著四季輪回升降，而在冬至前后太陽似乎停下來不動了。

2. ANCIENT CULTURES VIEWED THE WINTER SOLSTICE AS A TIME OF DEATH AND REBIRTH.

古代文化將冬至視為死亡和重生的時節(jié)

The seeming death of the light and very real threat of starvation over the winter months would have weighed heavily on early societies, who held varied solstice celebrations and rites meant to herald the return of the sun and hope for new life. Cattle and other animals were slaughtered around midwinter, followed by feasting on what was the last fresh meat for several months.

冬月里黑夜漫漫，太陽似乎遠去了。在饑餓的威脅下，古人會舉行各種冬至慶祝活動和儀式來迎接太陽的回歸，期待新生的來臨。冬至時節(jié)古人會宰殺牲口和其他動物，然后在接下來幾個月盡情享用最后的鮮肉。

3. EARTH IS CLOSEST TO THE SUN AROUND THE WINTER SOLSTICE.

冬至前后地球距離太陽最近

Though it doesn’t feel like it in the Northern Hemisphere, Earth is closer to the sun in early January— approximately 3 million miles closer—than it is in early July. The shortest distance between the sun and a planet is called perihelion; in 2021, Earth was at perihelion on January 2.

盡管身在北半球的你可能感覺不到，但是地球在1月初比7月初距離太陽更近，近了大約300萬英里。太陽和一顆行星最短的距離叫作近日點，2021年地球于1月2日到達近日點。

Despite the proximity to the sun, the reason for cold temperatures is because the Northern Hemisphere receives less sunlight and has cooler temperatures in winter due to Earth’s 23.5-degree tilt. The Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun in winter, and toward it in July.

盡管距離太陽更近，但是溫度卻很低，這是由于地球傾斜23.5度導致北半球在冬天接收到的陽光更少，因此天氣也更冷。北半球在冬天是背離太陽的方向傾斜著身子公轉，而在夏天（7月）是向著太陽傾斜。

4. THE WINTER SOLSTICE MARKS THE SHORTEST DAY OF THE YEAR, BUT NOT THE EARLIEST SUNSET.

冬至是一年中白晝最短的一天，但不是日落最早的一天

Though the winter solstice is the day with the least amount of sunlight, that’s not because of the sunset. In fact, the earliest sunset happens about two weeks prior—in 2021 in New York, for example, the winter solstice is December 21, but the earliest sunsets occur on December 7 and 8 (at 4:28 pm).

盡管冬至是日照最少的一天，但這不是因為日落時間早。事實上，日落最早的時間是在約兩周以前。以紐約為例，今年的冬至是12月21日，但是當?shù)厝章渥钤绲娜兆邮?2月7日和8日（下午4點28分）。

The discrepancy is due to the way we calculate time. Our clocks operate on an exact 24-hour schedule, but our days are technically a little longer or shorter. One day equals the time between when the sun is at its highest point in the sky, called solar noon, and the next.

這種差異是由于我們計算時間的方式產生的。我們的時鐘按照精確的24小時來運行，但是從嚴格意義上來講我們每一天的時間會長一點或短一點。從太陽升至天空最高點（正午時分）到第二天再次升至最高點的這段時間算作一天。

A solar day is slightly longer than 24 hours during the summer and winter solstices and slightly shorter during the spring and fall equinoxes because of Earth’s tilt and orbit. During the winter solstice in New York on December 21, solar noon is actually 11:54 am EST.

由于地球的傾斜角度和公轉，夏至和冬至時的一個太陽日比24小時略長，在春分和秋分比24小時略短。紐約冬至日12月21日的正午時分實際上是美國東部標準時間上午11點54分。

英文來源：Mental Floss

翻譯&編輯：丹妮