First, I’m not going to be answering that question, I’m asking it, and arguing why it should have been on the Solstice (when being setup, not now), and not some random day after. This isn’t some cute way of raising the question then providing the answer, such as “why is it dark at night?” Which while it may seem a clear answer, we’re on the shaded side of the Earth from the Sun. But given the number of starts out there, that every spot you look at has tons of galaxies, even in the gap of stars, the night sky should at worst look like the Milky Way all over the place, to being even a bit brighter, even on a night with no moon overhead. There would still be night, it would still be “dark”, but it should be brighter than it is. There is of course a rather simple answer, and I’ll let you go about exploring that on your own.
This is just a simple question of why didn’t the Gregorian Calendar set January 1st on the Northern Hemisphere Winter Solstice? Why some random date 11 days later? Continue reading Why Isn’t January 1st on the Solstice?