The Autumnal equinox is also known as the September equinox or Fall equinox. Before we get into when the autumnal equinox occurs and how many types of equinox we have in a year let’s first understand what exactly is an equinox.
Equinox is basically the point where the sun center passes through the celestial equator that makes the day and night of almost equal duration across the entire world.
“Equinox” word is derived from two Latin words, aequus implies “equal,” and nox meaning “night”. Both day, as well as night, are almost equal in length on the day of the equinox.
What happens on Fall Equinox or Autumnal Equinox?
The sunrise starts to happen late and the nightfall happens early following the autumnal equinox. That is, one can notice that the days start to get shorter whereas the nights are a little bit longer after the autumnal equinox. This will happen till the occurrence of the December solstice which would see that the days will turn longer whereas the nights will get shorter.
This month on the 22nd of September, fall (autumnal) equinox will occur in the Northern Hemisphere which marks the beginning of fall. Every year this can be witnessed in the month of September. Each year one can find two equinoxes. The fall equinox occurs in the month of September whereas in the month of March every year the vernal equinox occurs.
It is observed that in the month of September many US citizens from different states hesitantly stash pool tubes and plan for new ideas for Halloween costumes. This is also the time when the fall equinox marks the end of one season officially and the beginning of the next season.
Here is the date of the Fall Equinox 2021?
September 22, is the first official day of the fall this year and also the final day of the summer season, so go ahead and shop for the upcoming winter season!
One of the interesting facts about this event is that this is the start of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere whereas in the Southern Hemisphere it’s vice versa wherein fall begins in March and spring starts from September onwards, however, the Southern hemisphere constitutes just 1 percent of the entire world’s population.
Relationship between Autumnal Equinox and Harvest Moon:
There is technicality surrounding the autumnal equinox with its relationship with the full Moon. Ever wondered why the full Moon that occurs nearest to the autumnal equinox is called as ‘Harvest Moon’!
The full Moon rises for many consecutive nights in a row around sunset time around the fall equinox that provides farmers much-needed extra light for them to finish their harvests traditionally. Usually each night the Moon rises approximately an hour later whereas during the time of the fall equinox moon rises just 20-30 minutes later for many consecutive nights in a row because of the Moon’s orbit angle and the tilt of the Earth line up just right.
Know the time of the 2021 Autumnal Equinox:
The exact time of the fall equinox differs in the various time zones in North America as mentioned below.
People living in the eastern time zone are likely to experience the equinox at 3:21 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) whereas people in the Central Time Zone, will experience the equinox at 2:21 p.m. CDT (Central Daylight Time) and it is 1.21 p.m. (Mountain Daylight Time) for cities in the Mountain Time Zone.
So, enjoy the colorful and cozy autumn ahead!
