Today marks the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, but on the other side of the planet in Augusta, Western Australia, summer is just beginning.
That city is the closest one to Baltimore’s antipodal point — where you would end up if you dug a tunnel straight down, through Earth’s core. (Baltimore’s antipodal point is actually in the southern Indian Ocean, about 700 miles from Augusta.)
Because of the orientation of Earth’s axis to the sun, the Northern hemisphere is getting its least amount of daylight for the year. Barrow, on the northern coast of Alaska, hasn't seen the sun since Nov. 18, and won’t again until Jan. 23.
And the Southern Hemisphere is marking the summer solstice. At Norway’s Troll research station in Antarctica, opposite the planet from Barrow, the sun has been up since Nov. 10 and won’t set until Feb. 1.
In Baltimore, the sun will be up 9 hours, 24 minutes today. That is 5 hours less daylight than Augusta is getting.