![]() ![]() The cycle of the natural world is moving towards completion, the Sun's power is waning and from now on the nights grow longer and the days are are shorter and cooler. But we are again on the cusp of transition and from now the year now begins to wane and from this moment darkness begins to defeat the light. The ancients called this point of equilibrium Mabon and considered it to be a time of perfect equilibrium dark and light, masculine and feminine, inner and outer, in balance. It also marks the time of year when the northern hemisphere begins to tilt away from the Sun, resulting in less direct sunlight and consequently the cooling temperatures. On the autumn equinox, day and night are of roughly equal length and the nights will become increasingly longer than the days, until the spring equinox when the pattern is reversed. The Earth's orbit around the Sun means that in early January, the Sun is closest (known as perihelion) and in early July it is most distant (aphelion). The dates of the Equinox and Solstice aren't fixed due to the Earth's elliptical orbit of the Sun. In a year there are two equinoxes (spring and autumn) and two solstices (summer and winter). Solstices and equinoxes are considered to be the astronomical transition points between the seasons and mark key stages in the astronomical cycle of the Earth. ![]() Both equinoxes and solstices are related to the Earth's orbit around the Sun. The astronomical calendar determines the seasons due to the 23.5 degrees of tilt of the Earth's rotational axis in relation to its orbit around the Sun. This year autumn begins on 22 September 2020 and ends on 21 December 2020. Usually, when we talk about the first day of autumn we are referring to the astronomical autumn which is defined by the Earth's axis and orbit around the Sun. The autumn equinox is when the earth’s surface experiences 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness across one day.22nd of September marks the first day of autumn in the Norther Hemisphere but what is it exactly? Using this method, autumn begins on September 23, 2022, and ends on December 22, 2022, when it gives way to winter. According to astronomical autumn, the seasons result from the Earth’s 23.5-degree tilt concerning its orbit around the sun. One is astronomical autumn, which has to do with the Earth’s orbit around the sun, and the other is meteorological autumn, which is determined by changes in temperature. In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumn equinox coincides with the autumn harvest, and many ancient harvest celebrations occur on or around the autumn equinox. For centuries people have celebrated the autumn equinox. ![]() and the Majorville Medicine Wheel in Alberta, Canada. These sites include Stonehenge and Newgrange in the U.K. The equinoxes occur twice yearly, and on those days, the sun rises directly in the East and sets directly in the West.Īncient peoples used several prehistoric sites to track the sun’s position and predict equinoxes and solstices. The sun’s southernmost point marked the winter solstice or the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere when the North Pole was tilted the farthest from the sun. When the sun reached its northernmost point, marking the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, it was called the summer solstice. People discovered that the sun rose and set at a slightly different place each day of the year. Ancient people had no modern clocks, but they could measure the hours of night and day by using geometry. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |