Thursday, September 22, 2022
Wait a minute, what exactly is an equinox???
To answer that question properly, we turned to “The Old Farmer’s Almanac”. They never disappoint; and here is their definition: “The name equinox comes from the Latin word aequus, meaning equal, and nox, meaning night. An equinox occurs twice a year (Autumnal and Vernal or Fall and Spring).” And that is when the days are just about as long as the nights.
An equinox is an astronomical event. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Autumnal (Fall) occurs in September; but the Southern Hemisphere will experience it as a Vernal (Spring) Equinox. The opposite will occur in March when the Northern Hemisphere has the Vernal Equinox and the Southern goes into Fall. This is noteworthy because it marks the turning point of daylight hours. During the equinox the hours of daylight and night are equal. In the Fall, the days will become shorter as the nights lengthen because the sun will be rising later and setting earlier. This will continue until the Winter Solstice when the process reverses.
Uh-huh, so what’s a solstice???
A Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year after which the days will start to grow longer. Then, three months later, the Vernal Equinox arrives, and the days and nights are about equal. Then, another three months later, the Summer Solstice dawns with the longest day of the year.
And so, it goes!!!
During the equinox, the Sun will cross the “celestial equator” (that’s an imaginary extension of the Earth’s equator line into space). The equinox will occur at the moment the Sun’s center passes this line.
On Thursday, September 22, at 9:04pm, we will not see this happen.
But it will occur. Summer will end and Fall begins.
Enjoy a beautiful and colorful Fall season!!!
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