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What is an equinox? |
In Outer Space, as the Earth travels around the Sun, it doesn’t stand straight up. The North Pole isn’t at the very top, and the South Pole isn’t at the very bottom. The Earth actually leans or tilts as it travels! Because of the lean, for one half of the year, the north half of the Earth faces the Sun more than the south half. For the other half of the year, the south half faces the Sun more than the North. This is why we have seasons! If your half of the world is spending more time in the Sun, your weather will be warmer than the weather in the other half of the world. You’ll have summer while they have winter.
There are, however, two days of year when the north and south halves of the world face the Sun in equal amounts. These days are called equinoxes. There is one equinox near the end of March and another near the end of September. On an equinox, if you live at the equator (the imaginary line drawn around the middle of Earth, your nighttime and daytime will both be exactly half a day, or 12 hours.
For everywhere on Earth, an equinox is exactly half way between the longest daytime of the year (the summer solstice) and the shortest daytime of the year (the winter solstice).
The equinox in March, also called the vernal equinox, is the first day of spring, and the equinox in September, also called the autumnal equinox, is the first day of autumn or fall!
Sunrise, Sunset
You may know that the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West, but do you know if the Sun rises in the same place every day? Does it set in the same place every day?
Depending on your schedule, you’re probably awake for either the sunrise or the sunset. Keep track of where the Sun rises or sets (but remember not to look directly into the Sun because it can hurt your eyes!) Does the location change? If you check every day, you might not notice a difference, but if you check once every few days, once a week, or once a month, you’ll get stronger results.
What about the Earth do you think is responsible for where the Sun rises or sets? Remember the Sun does move, but it doesn’t move around us. We’re the ones who move around it!
