Hey, Summer Fans!
We’ve had a wonderful season this year and hope the summer fun was just as fantastic for you too. We say goodbye to the summer season today as its cycle has once again run its course for this year. We’ll miss you until next year, summer. But in the mean
time, let’s get excited about the fall season. Summer may be old news now, but fall is as fresh as it can be today.
Today is the Autumnal Equinox.
What in the world is an equinox? you might be asking yourself. It’s a fair enough question. After all, we only hear mention of them a couple times a year. Well, that’s because they occur twice a year! Much like the more popularly known Summer and Winter Solstice, there is an equinox for both the spring and fall seasons.
Opposite to the solstices which mark the longest (in summer) and shortest (in winter) days of the year, the Autumnal and Vernal Equinoxes hang in a fragile balance to mark equal day and night at 12 hours apiece all across the entire planet! The word ‘equinox’ is Latin in origin: ‘aequus’, which means ‘equal’ and ‘nox’, which means ‘night’.
It’s not an exact science. Due to refracted light coming through our atmosphere and because people have trouble settling on when sunrise and sunset really are, equinoxes almost never land on the actual day of observance, but always within a few days it.
People from all around the world celebrate with feasts and festivals, marking the arrival of the holiday. Dependent on your location on the globe, you may even be able to see the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights. These are beautiful colors that always appear in the sky this time of year. The phenomenon is actually radiation from the sun interfering with the earth’s magnetic field!
The further north you are, the better chance you have of seeing the Auroras! Enjoy your observance and celebration of the Autumnal Equinox and keep your eyes on the skies! As always, thanks for reading.
- John