This year the September Equinox will occur in September 23. It’s an astronomical phenomenon marking the equinox or the middle of the summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the middle of winter in the Southern Hemisphere. In September in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun shifts from spending its time more to the north of the equator to spending time more to the south of the equator. This change happens over an entire month, not just one day, and it marks many people’s changing perceptions of their seasons.
History
The September equinox usually occurs between September 21 and 24 every year. The dates are based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) for practical purposes. While the equinox occurs at the exact moment in time worldwide, the date and local time differ from place to place depending on the year and a location’s time zone. For areas east of UTC, it may take place the day after, and for sites west of UTC, it may take place the day before.
The word equinox comes from Latin and means equal night. At the equinox, the day and the night are almost equal in length, as the Earth’s rotational axis is neither tilted away from nor towards the sun. Note that day and night will be different lengths at all other times. When viewed from the equator, the sun rises directly in the East and sets directly in the West on the equinox. Before the southward equinox when it rises more to the north, and after it when it rises more to the south.
The equinox is when day and night are the same lengths. In September, it heralds the start of autumn in the northern hemisphere or spring in the southern hemisphere. In astrology, the First Point of Libra is the point in space where the sun crosses the celestial equator, moving from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere. However, due to a phenomenon known as precession, which causes a slow wobble in the Earth’s axis, this point is no longer within the constellation Libra; it has moved into Virgo.
Credit: National Today
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