Spring Sunrise over South Pole Photo by Calee Allen, National Science Foundation.The end of the Mayan calendar seems to have had little effect on planetary systems. Here in the Northern Hemisphere we passed our darkest day on December 21 and thankfully the earth continues to make its yearly voyage encircling the sun.
On the Winter Solstice, Earth’s tilted spinning-axis points towards darkness and distant stellar bodies, as far away from its own light-giving fireball as it can muster. So the nor...