The official start to winter in the Northern Hemisphere will be acknowledged Thursday, as the winter solstice takes place. 

Also called the hibernal solstice, the winter solstice is the longest night and the shortest day of the year. According to Marion County Naturalist Marla Mertz, daytime will gradually get lighter after Thursday and the Long Night’s Moon will follow the winter solstice on Tuesday, December 26th. 

“So after this day, then the day time, only by a pinch of a second, gets a little bit lighter each day. So that’s something to look forward to and then we do have a full moon that’s coming up on the 26th. It’s the Long Night’s Moon, and actually, it will be full on Christmas, so that makes it kind of a lovely time to see the full moon.”

Hear more from Marla Mertz on today’s In Touch with South Central Iowa.