Todays Google Doodle Celebrates the Winter Solstice With a Cute BundledUp Mouse
Google is celebrating the shortest and possibly worst day of the year with a festive new Google Doodle. The animation, which was created by Olivia Huynh and depicts a mouse hunkering down for the coldest months of the year, honors the winter solstice, otherwise known as the first official day of winter, according to an announcement from Google. On the day of the winter solstice, the North Pole is as far from the sun as it will be all year, resulting in just nine or 10 hours of daylight in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere. While we colloquially refer to the entire day of Dec. 21 as the winter solstice, Google notes the term technically refers to the moment when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn. This year, that's precisely 1628 UTC, or 1128 a.m. E.T.. The Southern Hemisphere, meanwhile, is celebrating the summer solstice, or the longest day of the year, on Dec. 21. True to form, a second Google Doodle, visible to Southern Hemisphere users, shows a mouse getting ready to enjoy sunshine, warm weather and the start of summer.