The September equinox marks the commencement of the Northern Hemisphere’s meteorological fall season as well as the Southern Hemisphere’s astrological spring season.There is an autumn or harvest season north of the equator during the Autumn Equinox. The Latin term ’equinox’ is drawn from aequus, which tends to mean equal, and nox, which means night.An equinox happens when the sun is precisely above the equator of the Earth and day and night have equal length. The seasonal equinox is commonly seen as a one-day event. It is, interestingly, a solitary point in time once the Sun passes the celestial equator, an imaginary straight line in the skies over Earth’s equator. Equinox is a celestial event induced by the inclination of the Earth’s axis as it circles all around the Sun. The Earth’s axis is inclined at an angle of 23.5 degrees off of its orbital plane on this day. Whereas the Northern Hemisphere celebrates the Autumn Equinox, the Southern Hemisphere celebrates the Spring Equinox.The Spring Equinox, also known as the Vernal Equinox, arrives in the Northern Hemisphere around March 20 or 21. Equinoxes occur twice annually. Since the Earth’s axis is inclined with regard to the Sun-Earth planes, the Sun will shine irregularly throughout the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, resulting in seasons. Even on the autumn and spring equinoxes, the sun’s rays spread nearly evenly in both the northern and southern hemispheres.Equinoxes serve as the prime times to witness the northern lights, where the Earth’s magnetic field interacts with sunlight. As the Earth orbits the sun, geomagnetic activities take place when the light from the sun passes through the magnetic field of the Earth. Due to time zone differences such as those between eastern daylight time and western European daylight time, the equinox can be witnessed in different regions at different times.The September equinox marks the start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere. The equinox is a time of year that also marks the change of seasons. Read on for some more interesting facts about the equinox and the harvest moon festival.After that, you can also check out facts about Buddhism and bismuth.What happens on the autumnal equinox?During the first day of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, the Earth is precisely oriented sideways to the Sun. The Sun would be directly overhead the Earth’s equator, traveling from north to south.Therefore, as an outcome, daytime and nighttime will be roughly similar in length over the planet. As per a NASA solar researcher, a type of twilight would prevail at the North Pole from now until the start of the fall equinox, sometime in October, since the sun would set just below the skyline in the weeks following the Autumn Equinox. Only after the Autumn Equinox, the Northern Hemisphere will see early sunsets and delayed sunrises.The Aurora Borealis is a stunning display of colorful lights throughout the evening sky. The Autumn Equinox is the best time to see the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights. The equinoxes are the prime time for the extraordinary Northern Lights. It’s due to the fact that geomagnetic storms occur twice as frequently as the yearly average. Due to the Earth’s inclination angle, solar storms or plasma ions are easily capable of reaching the planet’s surface around the equinox, but this basic intervention results in the largest geomagnetic storms. Plasma particles react with molecules of oxygen, nitrogen, and some other elements present in the air, releasing photons of various wavelengths, resulting in the stunning hues of the aurora.What is the difference between equinox and solstice?The equinox, as well as the solstice, symbolize the Earth’s passage across the seasons. Winter, spring, summer, and fall occur because the Earth’s distance from the sun fluctuates.The equinox occurs when daytime and nightfall are roughly the same duration, whereas the solstice occurs on the longest and shortest days in regards to the sun’s luminosity. In the Northern Hemisphere, the equinox happens twice per year, in the fall and spring. It is the moment when the plane of the Earth’s equator runs through the center of the length of the sun’s disc. The autumn equinox signals the beginning of fall when the nights get longer than the days. This normally happens around September 22nd.The summer and winter seasons are marked by the solstice. It is the juncture in the sky where the sun reaches its maximum or lowest peak around noon. This is the longest and shortest day of the year. The spring equinox normally occurs around March 20, signaling the start of astronomical spring, where days become longer than nights in regards to illumination. The solstice happens twice annually, but only in the summer and winter. The summer solstice, the longest day of the year, comes roughly around June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere. The Northern Hemisphere is inclined towards the sun throughout this season, giving us more sunshine and higher temperatures. The sun is at its lowest setting at the winter solstice.How long does the autumnal equinox last?Since a year in the modern calendar does not exactly equal the length of a tropical year, that is, the time it takes for the planet to finish one revolution around the Sun, the timing of the equinoxes and solstices changes.Throughout 1793 and 1805, the Autumn Equinox announced the successful commencement of each new year, per the French Republican Calendar. It’s due to the fact that the French empire was abolished one day before the equinox in 1792. From 1793 through 1805, the new year started once the fall equinox passed at the Paris Observatory. The full moon closest to the fall equinox is traditionally referred to as the ‘Harvest Moon’.The autumnal equinox occurs when the sun traverses the equatorial axis from north to south. The vernal equinox occurs whenever it traverses the south to the north. Days grow shorter than nights just after the autumnal equinox when the sun rises fairly late and dusk approaches sooner. This concludes with the December solstice, once the days begin to lengthen again. Every year, there seem to be two equinoxes, the spring equinox around March and the autumnal equinox around September. As a result, this occurrence repeats every six months. These signal the start of fall and spring.When does the autumnal equinox occur in the southern hemisphere?The March equinox is known as the autumnal equinox throughout the Southern Hemisphere, whereas the September equinox is known as the vernal equinox.In the southern hemisphere, the March Equinox commemorates the first day of autumn, hence the name ‘Fall Equinox’ or ‘Autumn Equinox’. The Spring Equinox occurs on the September Equinox, the first day of spring. At the March equinox, the sun swaps the edges of the planet from the southernmost to the northernmost hemispheres. As a result, the March equinox is often referred to as the ‘Northward equinox’.The sun, on the other hand, swaps sides of the planet at the September equinox, from the northern to the southern hemisphere. As a result, the September equinox is often referred to as the ‘Southward Equinox’. The March vernal equinox, also known as the spring equinox, takes place on March 20th in the Southern Hemisphere. This could take place between both the 19th and the 21st of December. It is worth noting that the hemispheres experience the equinoxes on various dates depending on their timeframes. They do, conversely, happen at the same time.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for interesting autumnal equinox facts in the Northern Hemisphere, then why not take a look at blue Disney characters, or primate lower classifications: old world monkeys facts.
The September equinox marks the commencement of the Northern Hemisphere’s meteorological fall season as well as the Southern Hemisphere’s astrological spring season.
