The autumnal equinox is upon us!
Today both the Northern and Southern hemispheres will experience an equal amount of daylight.
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it marks the beginning of fall, with daylight hours continuing to shorten until the winter solstice in December. For those south of the equator, it’s the beginning of spring.
Technically speaking, the equinox occurs when the sun is directly in line with the equator. This will happen at 9:54 pm Eastern time today.
FUN FALL FACTS:
If you were told as a child that on the equinox, it’s easier to balance an egg vertically on a flat surface than on other days of the year. Sorry, but that’s a myth. The amount of sunlight we get during the day has no power over the gravitational pull of the Earth.
When days begin to grow shorter, green leafy trees start signaling to their leaves to stop producing chlorophyll, the green pigment responsible for the leaves’ color and photosynthesis.
The fall and spring equinoxes, the seasons, and the changing length of daylight hours throughout the year are all due to one fact: Earth spins on a tilted axis.
All the planets in our solar system rotate on a tilted axis and therefore have seasons.
“Pumpkin spice” is not a single spice but a blend of them. And it contains no pumpkin.
On the equinox, the pyramid at Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico puts on a wondrous show. Built by the Mayans around 1,000 years ago, the pyramid is designed to cast a shadow on the equinox outlining the body of Kukulkan, a feathered snake god. A serpent-headed statue is located at the bottom of the pyramid, and as the sun sets on the day of the equinox, the sunlight and shadow show the body of the serpent joining with the head.
FALL COUNTDOWN:
- There are 39 days until Halloween.
- There are 45 days until the election.
- There are 61 days until Thanksgiving.
- There are 94 days until Christmas.