Twice a year, the sun doesn’t play favorites. Everyone on Earth is seemingly on equal status – at least when it comes to the amount of light and dark that they get. On Sunday, we enter our second and final equinox of 2024.
If you reside in the Northern Hemisphere, you know it as the fall equinox (or autumnal equinox) . For people south of the equator, this equinox actually heralds the coming of spring . Technically, your location on the globe also determines the local time and even the date you experience the fall equinox.
The vast bulk of the world’s population will mark it this year on Sunday, Sept. 22. The sun rises directly east over the US Capitol dome just a few days before the 2022 fall equinox.
People close to the equator won’t notice anything – they have roughly 12-hour days and 12-hour nights all year long. But hardy folks close to the poles, in places such as Alaska and the northern parts of Canada and Scandinavia, go through wild swings in the day/night ratio each year. They have long, dark winters and then have a summer solstice where night barely intrudes.
But during the equinox, everyone from pole to pole gets to enjoy a 12/12 split of day and night. Well, there’s just one rub – it isn’t as perfectly “equal” as you might have thought. There’s a good explanation for why you don’t get precisely 12 hours of daylight on the equinox.
More on that farther down. Here are the answers to some fall equinox questions: From the CNN Fast Facts file : The term equinox comes from the Latin word equinoxium, meaning “equality between day and night.” Sunrise illuminates fall colors in the Adirondacks in New York state.
More than 40 peaks in the chain reach over 4,000 feet (1,219 meters). The equinox will arrive at 12:44 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) Sunday, Sept. 22.
For people in places such as Montreal and Richmond, Virginia , that’s 8:43 a.m. local time.
It comes at 7:43 a.m. in St.
Louis and 6:43 a.m. for Mexico City.
Even further westward, that’s 5:43 a.m. for Seattle.
Going in the other direction across the Atlantic Ocean, residents of Amsterdam and Split, Croatia, will officially mark the occasion at 2:43 p.m. Sunday.
Traveling even farther east, Dubai marks the exact event at 4:43 p.m. For residents of Hong Kong, it’s 8:43 p.
m. while Tokyo clocks in at 9:43 p.m.
You can click here to input your city . Visitors take selfies in front of light installations at Victoria Park in Hong Kong during the Mid-Autumn Festival in September 2022. Yes.
Fall officially begins on the autumn equinox. But there are actually two measures of the seasons: “the astronomical seasons” (which follow the arrivals of equinoxes and solstices) and what’s called the “meteorological seasons.” Allison Chinchar, CNN meteorologist, explains the differences: “Astronomical fall is essentially the time period from the autumnal equinox up to the winter solstice.
Those dates can vary by a day or two each year,” she says. “Meteorological fall is different ..
. in that the dates never change and are based on climatological seasons rather than Earth’s angle relative to the sun. These are perhaps the seasons that more people are familiar with,” Chinchar says.
Meteorological seasons are defined as the following: March 1 to May 31 is spring; June 1 to August 31 is summer; September 1 to November 30 is autumn; and December 1 to February 28 is winter. “This makes some dates tricky,” Chinchar says. “For example, December 10, most people would consider winter, but if you are using the astronomical calendar, technically that is still considered autumn because it is before the winter solstice.
” She said that “meteorologists and climatologists prefer to use the ‘meteorological calendar’ because not only do the dates not change – making it easy to remember – but also because it falls in line more with what people think traditional seasons are.” The residents of New Delhi, India, will have almost 12 hours and eight minutes of sunlight on the fall equinox on September 22. The closest date to an even 12/12 split for the capital of India will be September 27, when it will have 11 hours and 19 seconds of daylight.
The Earth rotates along an imaginary line that runs from North Pole to South Pole. It’s called the axis, and this rotation is what gives us day and night. However, the axis tilts at 23.
5 degrees, as NASA explains . That positions one hemisphere of the planet to get more sunlight than the other for half of the year’s orbit around the sun. This discrepancy in sunlight is what triggers the seasons.
The effect is at its maximum in late June and late December. Those are the solstices, and they have the most extreme differences between day and night, especially near the poles. (That’s why it stays light for so long each day during the summer in places such as Scandinavia.
) Since the summer solstice in June, days have been progressively becoming shorter in the Northern Hemisphere and the nights longer for the past three months. Welcome to fall equinox! Long before the age of clocks, satellites and modern technology, our ancient ancestors knew a lot about the movement of the sun across the sky – enough to build massive monuments and temples that, among other purposes, served as giant calendars to mark the seasons. Here are just a few of the sites associated with the equinox and the annual passage of the sun: • Stonehenge (United Kingdom) : Many mysteries about these giant slabs remain, but we do know they are aligned to mark the yearly passage of the sun.
• Megalithic Temples of Malta : These seven temples on the Mediterranean island are some of the earliest free-standing stone buildings in the world, going back 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. At Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples, the semicircular chambers are aligned so that the rising sun on an equinox is framed between the stones. • Chichén Itzá (Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico) : El Castillo, the famous pyramid at Chichén Itzá, puts on a striking show on the equinoxes.
Constructed by the Toltec-Maya people between 1050 and 1300 , the pyramid was built to cast a shadow during equinoxes on the northern balustrade of El Castillo. It looks like the form of a snake slithering down the stairs, and the ancient special effect is heightened by the heads of sculpted beasts at the base. • Jantar Mantar (New Delhi, India) : Much more recent in origin (1724 and 1730), these buildings from the end of the Mughal period are astronomical observatories.
Members of the Druid Order perform a ceremony to celebrate the autumn equinox on Primrose Hill in London on September 23, 2022. All around the world, the fall equinox has weaved its way into our cultures and celebrations. In Greek mythology, the fall equinox marks the return of the goddess Persephone to the underworld for three months, where she is reunited with her husband, Hades.
Harvest festivals In Great Britain had their roots in fall equinox since pagan times. Chinese and Vietnamese people still celebrate the Harvest Moon (also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival). Lanterns line the streets as people give thanks, watch the moon and eat.
Round pastries called mooncakes are a Mid-Autumn Festival favorite. It’s held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month on the Chinese calendar. That was held on September 17 this year.
In Japan, Autumnal Equinox Day is a national holiday . In Japanese, it’s known as Shubun no Hi (秋分の日), according to Coto Japanese Academy . The roots of the celebration are thought to go back to Shintoism and Buddhism.
It turns out you get a little more daylight than darkness on the equinox, depending on where you are on the planet. How does that happen?The answer is complicated but fascinating. The “nearly” equal hours of day and night are because of the complex way a sunrise is measured and the refraction of sunlight in our atmosphere.
This bending of light rays causes the sun to appear above the horizon when the actual position of the sun is below the horizon. The day is a bit longer at higher latitudes than at the equator because it takes the sun longer to rise and set the closer you get to the poles. So on fall equinox, the length of day will vary a little depending on where you are.
Here are a few breakdowns to give you an approximate idea: • At the equator: About 12 hours and 6 minutes (Quito, Ecuador) • At 30 degrees latitude: About 12 hours and 8 minutes (Cairo, Egypt) • At 60 degrees latitude: About 12 hours and 14 minutes (Helsinki, Finland) For the truly equal day/night split, you have to wait some days after the official equinox. That’s called the equilux . When the equilux happens for you depends on your latitude, according to timeanddate.
com . The closer you are to the equator, the later the date for the fall equilux. And at the equator itself, the equilux never arrives because of that aforementioned atmospheric refraction of the sunlight.
There’s always a little more daylight than darkness along that line. ___ People have looked at the sky for millennia in awe of all the celestial wonders happening above. Even today, with advanced technology and a more nuanced understanding of our solar system and the galaxies beyond, we continue to look to the sky with a great sense of fascination.
The most anticipated celestial event of 2024 is the total solar eclipse on April 8. Much of the U.S.
, Mexico, and Canada will be in the path of totality, meaning people in the right place will see the moon perfectly lined up in front of the sun, leaving a shaded circle of the moon and only the outer aura of the sun. The last total solar eclipse was Aug. 21, 2017.
Many people marked the occasion by going outside wearing eclipse glasses and bearing witness to the remarkable event. But stargazers don't have to wait until April for exciting occurrences in the upper atmosphere. Many thrilling astral events will happen throughout the year, many of which do not require special equipment to view.
What is the most essential thing to do to increase the chances of a good view? Find a place with dark skies or at least a sky some distance away from the light pollution in cities. Stacker sourced information from NASA , weather channels, and astronomy sites to list 2024's most notable astronomical events in chronological order to help people plan their sky viewing for the year. The biggest mystery of the stargazing world may be answered in the fall of 2024: Will a newly discovered comet shine bright, or will anticipation for this event go bust? Comet C/2023 A3 was first spotted in late 2022 and early 2023.
Scientists determined the comet takes 80,000 years to complete an orbit around the sun. According to their estimates, it'll reach its closest point to the sun on Sept. 28, 2024.
With any luck, the comet will be bright enough to be visible to people in the southern hemisphere without any equipment through the month of September. By October, the comet will pass the sun and may become visible to people in North America by Oct. 11 or 12, 2024.
Scientists need more data about Comet C/2023 A3 to be sure, so for now, the comet remains a bit of a mystery. For those who didn't get enough excitement from the total solar eclipse in April, a second solar eclipse will occur on Oct. 2.
This time, people in South America will get the best show. The path of totality crosses over at the very bottom of Argentina and Chile. For people who don't plan to travel to remote areas of southern Argentina and Chile, a partial eclipse will be visible in North and South America.
Every December, the Geminid meteors return to fly across the night sky. The annual Geminid meteor shower is a great event for new skywatchers to view because it's one of the most reliable annual meteor showers. With clear and dark skies, about 120 meteors per hour are typically visible when the Geminids peak.
The meteors usually appear yellow and move quickly across the sky. 2024 will likely be the best year to check viewing the northern lights off bucket lists. Scientists say increased solar activity is likely to peak in 2024, which means the aurora borealis could be visible more often than in years past.
The best opportunities to see the effects of a stronger solar cycle should occur from January to October, especially around the spring and fall equinoxes. Although the northern lights may be strong enough to be visible in parts of the contiguous U.S.
occasionally, stargazers' best bet is to travel further north. Northern destinations such as Fairbanks, Alaska; Yellowknife, Canada; and Nordic countries offer the best opportunities to see beautiful green and red hues dance across the night sky. Story editing by Carren Jao.
Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn. Photo selection by Clarese Moller. The Perseid meteor shower is visible every summer, and 2024 will be no different.
It occurs when Earth's orbit goes through the debris a comet left behind. The moon's brightness is the most important factor in being able to see the meteor shower clearly; when the moon is dim, the sky is darker, making the Perseids easier to see. On Aug.
12, 2024, the moon will be at half-brightness during the peak of the Perseid meteor shower. It'll create the best time to see these meteors light up the sky when it sets around midnight UTC. Ever look at the moon and note that it seems bigger than usual? Four full moons in the fall of 2024 will appear larger than life because the moon will have moved closer to the Earth than at any other time during the year.
The moon orbits around Earth in an oval shape. When it hits perigee, that is, its closest approach to Earth, it'll also be at its fullest, known as a supermoon. Those who miss the supermoon on Aug.
19 will have a second chance to see another one during later lunar cycles on Sept. 18, Oct. 17, and Nov.
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