Posted on 12/20/2025 12:24:58 PM PST by MtnClimber
Explanation: The word solstice is from the Latin for Sun and to pause or stand still. And in the days surrounding a solstice the Sun's annual north-south drift in planet Earth's sky does slow down, pause, and then reverse direction. So near the solstice the daily path of the Sun through the sky really doesn't change much. In fact, near the December solstice, the Sun's consistent, low arc through northern hemisphere skies, along with low surface temperatures, has left a noticeable imprint on this path to the mountain town of Peaio in northern Italy. The morning frost on the road has melted away only where the sunlight was able to reach the ground. But it remains in the areas persistently shadowed by the fence, tattooing in frost an image of the fence on the asphalt surface.
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Pinging the APOD list
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I thought it was a bicycle lane at first.
Nice. Thank you for posting these threads.
Too cold....
Yes. I thought, what a stupid idea, make bicycle lane as big than the car one.
The fence must be run more or less north-south right angles to the direction of rising sun. The sun is apparently peeking over a mountain ridge fairly high up, to right and easterly, and the fence’s shadow is moving left to right in that picture. That is the result of about an hour’s sunlight exposure, not several days.
The solstice deals with the position of the sun at sunrise and sunset but has little effect on its up and down motion. It does relate to the actual times of sunrise and sunset. I think that the picture simply indicates that the sun melted the non-shadowed frost on the road after it rose, and the photographer just happened to catch it. Solstice day was not a factor other than winter is the time when frost can be on the road.
I agree, Solstice had nothing to do with the photo.
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