Earliest sunsets of the year are prior to the solstice

The Sky This Week, 2011 November 29 – December 6 — Naval Oceanography Portal

Even though the winter solstice is still several weeks away, I have always associated the beginning of winter with December 1st, which is when meteorologists shift over to their winter climate models. Early December is when the year’s earliest sunsets occur here in the Northern Hemisphere, and for the next month we’ll seem to experience the full darkness of long winter nights. …

Pay particular attention to the so-called "terminator", the line dividing the sunlit lunar hemisphere from the dark. It is here that the low angle of sunlight exaggerates the shadows of lunar mountains and craters and gives some impression of what a rugged, inhospitable environment the Moon is. Next week marks the 39th anniversary of the flight of Apollo 17, our last human visit to our only natural satellite.

The Sky This Week, 2011 November 29 – December 6 — Naval Oceanography Portal