In 2022, September 22 is the Autumnal Equinox or, in other words, “The First Day of Autumn.” This date is also known as the September equinox or fall equinox. If you need to be precise on this change in seasons it will happen at 9:04 pm EDT and it occurs at the same moment worldwide.
What is the autumn equinox? It is an astronomical event that marks the start of autumn (or fall) within the Northern Hemisphere. An equinox occurs when the Sun crosses the celestial equator, an imaginary extension of Earth’s equator line into space. This event happens when the Sun’s center passes through this line.
It is after this equinox that days become shorter than nights as the Sun continues to rise later and nightfall arrives earlier. This will continue until the winter solstice, when the days start to grow longer (December 21, 2022).
The word equinox comes from Latin aequus, meaning equal, and nox, “night.” Another interesting fact is that the full Moon nearest to the autumnal equinox is called the Harvest Moon. It should be no surprise that this came about due to farming, yes farming. It is around the full equinox that the full Moon rises around sunset several nights in a row, which would provide farmers with enough extra light to finish their harvest before the weather changes.
Fall Weather
It is summer’s great last heat,
It is the fall’s first chill: They meet.
~ Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt
Categorized in: General
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