Winter solstice instant of the solstice can be calculated, direct observation of the solstice by amateurs is impossible because the sun moves too slowly or appears to stand still (the meaning of "solstice"). However, by use of astronomical data tracking, the precise timing of its occurrence is now public knowledge. One cannot directly detect the precise instant of the solstice (by definition, one cannot observe that an object has stopped moving until one later observes that it has not moved further from the preceding spot, or that it has moved in the opposite direction). Further, to be precise to a single day,
Three Months in the Southern States Three Months in the Southern States Three Months in the Southern States is a book written by Captain Arthur Fremantle, of the Coldstream Guards, upon his return to England from his three-month stay (April 2 until July 16, 1863) in the Confederate States of America. Most specifically mentioned in the book are Fremantle's travels through Texas, the deep south, and finally when he arrived in the company of the Army of Northern Virginia on June 27, and witnessed the Battle of Gettysburg firsthand, as part of a cadre of foreign observers attached to the headquarters of Lt. Gen. James Longstreet.