In just four hours from now...

Emp_Fab

The Northern hemisphere of the Earth will be tilted as far away from the Sun as it gets.... i.e. the Winter Solstice, which is at precisely 5:11pm GMT.  After 5:11pm, we start the journey back closer to the Sun....  and the days start getting longer again towards SUMMER !!!!!

viz

Solstice - the standing still of the sun. Yippee at last.

not_the_dj

Yah! One more lap done...let's go round again.

Deadman

I'm going to ensure that I have a lucky poo right on 5.11pm GMT. Then I'm going to approach Guinness to see if anyone holds the record for having a shit farthest away from the Sun. If there isn't, bang. Record holder. 

I amaze even myself sometimes.

ROOG

I had this in mind my self emp. some thing to look forward to.

Sambostar

What happens to the orbit and the critical mass of the earth if everyone poops at the same time?  Especially given that we are at the furthest point from the sun?

Bogwhoppit

Then the Druids remove their clothes and dance around the 'magic dildo' followed by the elderly women displaying their saggy funbags.

Deadman

Sambostar said:

What happens to the orbit and the critical mass of the earth if everyone poops at the same time?  Especially given that we are at the furthest point from the sun?

This is some hadron collider-esque shit Sambostar. We shouldn't even be discussing it.

Myranda

Deadman said:

Sambostar said:

What happens to the orbit and the critical mass of the earth if everyone poops at the same time?  Especially given that we are at the furthest point from the sun?

This is some hadron collider-esque shit Sambostar. We shouldn't even be discussing it.

You can't put shit in the LHC... the amount of energy contained in a poo travelling at .99 c could create a poopocalypse

Deadman

A poopocalypse. Imagine that. Scary shit.

Grunfeld

Emp_Fab said:

The Northern hemisphere of the Earth will be tilted as far away from the Sun as it gets.... i.e. the Winter Solstice, which is at precisely 5:11pm GMT.  After 5:11pm, we start the journey back closer to the Sun....  and the days start getting longer again towards SUMMER !!!!!

Firstly, summer.  10/10 for summer.  Yay for summer.  And warmth.

But how does that 5:11pm thing work?  I've never really given the winter solstice much thought.  At summer solstice it's all about the dawn, the sunrise.  What's the deal with winter?  According to the interweb the sunset is 3:54pm so it can't be that. 

Emp_Fab

As the Earth is tilted at 23.5º, and that tilt remains fixed relative to space as we go around the sun, there will be times when the top of the Earth will be tilted towards the sun and times when it's tilted away (i.e. summer and winter in the Northern hemisphere).  Likewise, when the north is tilted towards the sun, the south is tilted 'away' - which is why the seasons are opposite in the two hemispheres.  This afternoon, at 5:11pm, the Earth will pass the point in its rotation around the Sun where the North Pole is furthest from the sun (see the diagram below).  It's not got anything to do with the rotation of the Earth around its own axis (i.e sunrise / sunset).

This Youtube clip is about the best I could find on the subject....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4_-R1vnJyw

ROOG

Seems a fair explanation, but why 23.5 degrees eh, eh, eh?

I mean what's wrong with a nice neat 30 deg? 

Grunfeld

Nice one!  I get it.

Summer ***sigh***

That Bruce Springsteen song, kind of bitter sweet, but on the money.

GuitarMonkey

NOW!

Emp_Fab

Ha !  I just found my only ever contribution to a Musicradar forum jam !  (Shit ! - SEVEN years ago !!!)

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=6210313&q=hi&newref=1

I called it Summer Beach.....    which..... as it's now 5:12pm.....  we are all slowly heading back towards !!!  Hooray for Summer !!! :-)

Edit:  This can't be right ? http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=798864&songID=6210313

Highest position #25 in the charts and #9 in the sub-genre ???!!!  It was only a simple melody....   WTF's that all about ?!

EricTheWeary

Thought this was going to be a Strictly thread. I think Mrs Crouch will win.

Emp_Fab

Deadman

Well, I couldn't even manage a wee. Maybe next time. Nice beach.

Grunfeld

Emp_Fab said:

Ha !  I just found my only ever contribution to a Musicradar forum jam !  (Shit ! - SEVEN years ago !!!)

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=6210313&q=hi&newref=1

I called it Summer Beach.....    which..... as it's now 5:12pm.....  we are all slowly heading back towards !!!  Hooray for Summer !!! :-)

That's really nice.  Why not more contributions?

Your pic reminded me of something I did 10 years ago... golly that seems like another lifetime.  It was a little competition thing I organised and contributed to.  Some nice stuff on there.  Can't believe it's still there!

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=87447

Myranda

Emp_Fab said:

Oh my... I want.