Celebrate the Winter Solstice at Sydney Observatory

It’s a week until the Winter Solstice. And what better way to celebrate the shortest day of the year than a visit to the Sydney Observatory?

The Winter Solstice was a time of celebration in ancient Europe. The Romans had a week-long celebration called Saturnalia during which all wars had to stop and courts did not try criminals. Down here some Aboriginal peoples tracked the movement of the Sun, perhaps before Stonehenge was built, and couldn’t have missed the significance of the mid-Winter day.

Back in 2015 Sydney, the Observatory will “explore the science and the mythology and view Saturn, the ringed planet (weather permitting) as well as enjoy pizza and soft drinks”. All this at 6pm on Monday 22 June (although, just FYI, the precise moment of the Solstice is technically Monday, 22 June 2015 at 2:39 AM AEST).

For full details and tickets see the Sydney Observatory website.

Image: MAAS