Today’s the shortest day of the year

Today marks the winter solstice, which means today is the shortest day of the year and the beginning of the winter season in the northern hemisphere. 

Winter solstice means "sun is standing still," which marks the day of the year with the fewest sunlight hours. The word solstice is derived from the Latin word "sol" which means sun and "sistere" means to stand still.

Google has created an animated doodle to celebrate the first day of winter and the wonderful combination of the great conjunction, showing Saturn giving a high-five as it passes through the solar system.

The phenomenon - which also marks the beginning of summer in the Southern Hemisphere - is caused by the axial tilt of the Earth and the motion of the planet as it circles the center of our solar system around the sun.

This, of course, is happening in the Northern Hemisphere which is why it's also the longest day in the exact opposite, Southern Hemisphere.

Except for East Timor and parts of the Southern Hemisphere of Indonesia, the Northern Hemisphere covers most countries in Asia. Bangladesh is also one of the Northern Hemisphere nations, which is why the smallest day of the year is today.

Coincidentally, the solar system's two biggest planets, Jupiter and Saturn, came within planetary kissing range on the winter solstice.

This "great conjunction", as it is known to astronomers, will not occur again until 2080.