Today, autumnal equinox, marks the start of the autumn season
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Today is the day of the autumnal equinox (or fall equinox) for this year.
What is an equinox?
‘Equinox’ comes from the Latin words aequus, meaning “equal,” and nox, meaning, “night”. This is a day of the year when day and night are of equal length all over the world (nearly 12 hours each).
An equinox occurs twice a year. It happens when the Sun is exactly above a planet’s equator. It occurs once in March (spring equinox) and once in September (autumnal equinox).
For people in the northern hemisphere, today is the autumnal equinox. It signals the beginning of autumn. For the southern hemisphere, it is the spring equinox, which is the beginning of spring. After the autumnal equinox, autumn sets in. Trees start to shed their leaves and the weather starts to get cooler.
Celebrations on this day
The fall equinox has been a day of celebration for cultures since ancient times.
At Machu Picchu in Peru (South America), there is an ancient stone monument called Intihuatana. Its purpose was to be a solar clock to mark the dates of the equinoxes and solstices.
In England, Stonehenge was also built with the equinoxes and solstices in mind.
In Japan, Autumnal Equinox Day is a national holiday. In the Japanese language, it’s known as Shubun no Hi.
Here is a video on how the Sun changes the seasons on Earth. Video credit: Crash Course Kids/Youtube
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