Watch Earth at its winter solstice from 1.5 million kilometers away.

On December 21st, 2024, the north pole is tilted entirely away from the sun, in polar night. It is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, it is the longest. Australia is in the middle of its summer, when the risk of catastrophic wildfires is at its highest. The 2019-2020 fires burned 18 million hectares and produced smoke clouds visible from the L1 point. Antarctica is receiving 24 hours of sunlight, accelerating the melt of its ice shelves. In Europe and North America, Arctic air masses push south, bringing snowstorms and prolonged cold spells.

Vivaldi's sonnet for Winter, 1724:
Frozen and shivering in the icy snow,
Under the battering of a terrible wind,
Run stamping your feet every moment,
Teeth chattering in the cold.
Spend calm and happy moments by the fire
While outside the rain sprinkles everyone.
Walking on the ice with hesitant steps,
By being careful, lest you fall.
Jump in haste, slip, and fall to the ground,
Get back on the ice and run,
In case the ice cracks and opens.
To hear, leaving their screened house, Sirocco,
Boreas, and all the winds in battle...
It's winter, but it brings joy.

From 1.5 million kilometers, you can see both hemispheres at once.