On Saturday, Dec. 21, at exactly 12:11pm ET, those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere will witness the Winter Solstice.

This is the moment at which the sun is furthest away from us to the south, hence the short amount of daylight and expanse of night.

This video features a short clip from The Wonders Of The Universe in which Professor Brian Cox witnesses the sun rising in Egypt on the Winter Solstice.

What’s the big deal, you may ask, it’s only nature at work. But the tradition of commemorating this moment in the calendar dates back to a time when the sun wasn’t seen as a fiery ball of gas, but rather as a god.