TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Thursday marks the Winter Solstice, which is the time when the Earth’s axis is tilted farthest away from the sun.

That also mean’s it’s the shortest day of the year in terms of sunlight in the northern hemisphere.

The Winter Solstice occurs at exactly 10:27 p.m. on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. It marks the beginning of astrological winter, which is different than meteorological winter, which began Dec. 1.

Tampa will see about 10 hours and 20 minutes of sunlight on Thursday — the shortest of the year. The NOAA Solar Calculator lists an apparent sunrise of 7:17 a.m. and an apparent sunset of 5:39 p.m.

Apparent sunrise is used by the calculator due to atmospheric refraction — the bending of light — because the sunrise appears to be slightly earlier than actual sunrise. The inverse applies at sunset.

The good news is that after Thursday, there will gradually be more daylight each day leading up to spring and summer.