BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Autumn Equinox 2016

Astronomically speaking, summer is almost over. It's the Autumnal Equinox on Thursday, September 22nd.

Autumn begins on the equinox, the day the Sun crosses the equator. Equinoxes were celebrated by the earliest known civilizations, and are still in many places. One of the biggest celebrations is the Chinese Moon Festival. A traditional Chinese palace or garden has a moon-watching pavilion.

Although the September equinox heralds autumn in the northern hemisphere, those in the southern hemisphere are greeting spring. So to our southern hemisphere readers . . .

Many countries have special celebrations around the time of the September equinox. Sadly, I never seem to live in one of those countries.

One of the loveliest things I've come across as part of equinox celebrations is a moon-watching pavilion where you can contemplate the harvest moon, which is the full Moon nearest the equinox.

For example, the middle room in the Gepparo pavilion in Kyoto has the building's best view of the harvest moon.

Happy Autumnal Equinox

Yesterday at 14.21 UTC the Sun crossed the celestial equator from north to south. When it's near the celestial equator the hours of day and night are approximately equal. Now the days in the north continue to get shorter and in the south they continue to get longer.

UTC (Universal Coordinated Time) is approximately GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). But timeanddate.com remind us that UTC is "a standard" not a time zone.

At the equinox the light plays on the Temple of Kukulkan in Chichen Itza, built hundreds of years ago by the Maya in what is present-day Mexico. The feathered serpent deity seems to descend the steps of the temple.

The video explains what's happening with narration in Spanish and English subtitles. Amazing. Producer: Jose Antonio Ariztegui

It is amazing. Our ancestors were brilliant.