The First Day of Autumn

The Autumnal Equinox 2022 in the Northern hemisphere began at 02.03 today.

What is the Autumnal Equinox?

The autumnal equinox is an astronomical event that marks the start of autumn . In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumnal equinox occurs in September; in the Southern Hemisphere, it occurs in March.

What is an Equinox?

During an equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator”—an imaginary extension of Earth’s equator line into space. The equinox occurs precisely when the Sun’s centre passes through this line.

For those in the Northern Hemisphere, when the Sun crosses the equator going from north to south, this marks the autumnal equinox; when it crosses from south to north, this marks the vernal equinox. In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the reverse.

The word “equinox” comes from Latin aequus, meaning “equal,” and nox, ”night.” On the equinox, day and night are roughly equal in length.

Things you may not know about an Equinox

• You can balance an Egg! There’s an old-wives’ tale that says you can stand an egg on its end during the equinox. Well, yes, it’s true (and fun to try).
• In Mexico, the Mayans built a giant pyramid called Chichen Itza. On the equinoxes, it looks as if a snake made of light slithers down the pyramid’s steps.
• In England, Stonehenge was also built with the equinoxes and solstices in mind.
• The full Moon closest to the September equinox is always known as the Harvest Moon. This is named so as the full Moon rises around sunset for several nights in a row, which traditionally provided farmers with just enough extra light for them to finish their harvests.