Google celebrates the winter solstice with new Doodle

Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Google is welcoming the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere with a new Doodle.

Google's homepage features an animated sequence of a mouse ice skating above his underground home before falling into some snow and turning into a snowman.

"December 21st marks the 2017 winter solstice, as well as the first day of winter on the astronomical calendar. On this day, the tilt of the earth's North Pole is at its farthest from the sun, resulting in the shortest day and the longest night of the calendar year," Google said.

"Though most refer to the solstice as an entire day, in reality, the solstice is defined as a single moment: when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn. This year, that moment will occur at 16:28 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). After this point in time, periods of daylight will once again begin to grow longer," they continued.

A Doodle marking the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere was also released featuring the same mouse reading a book inside his home before getting distracted by a bright beam of sunlight that enters his domain due to a bird. The sunlight causes the mouse to start wearing sunglasses.

The summer solstice will be giving those who live in the Southern Hemisphere more than 12 hours of daylight.