Winter solstice: timelapse reveals how the earth’s tilt changes throughout the year

The shortest day of the year is here.

And to mark Saturday’s winter solstice, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released a timelapse of the world’s weather patterns over the past year.

By looping together one image from each day over the last year, viewers can see the earth’s tilt changing and how it affects seasons and weather patterns from equinox to solstice.

In the northern hemisphere, winter solstice occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, which is located at 23.5 degrees south of the equator, according to the NOAA.

The winter solstice is the known as the shortest day of the year because it has the fewest hours of daylight.

1:37 Winter solstice brings longer days, shorter nights

The agency said the solstice officially takes place at 11:19 p.m. ET Saturday.

The winter solstice generally falls on Dec. 21, but not always in order to accommodate for leap years, the NOAA’s website states.

–With files from Global News