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Systematically observing the sunrise, people discovered that it occurs between two extreme locations at the horizon and eventually noted the midpoint between the two. Later it was realized that this happens on a day when the duration of the day and the night are practically equal and the word "equinox" comes from Latin aequus, meaning "equal", and nox, meaning "night".
The solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with the seasons. In some languages they are considered to start or separate the seasons; in others they are considered to be centre points (in England , in the Northern Hemisphere, for example, the period around the northern solstice is known as midsummer).
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The first day of each month is shown in black, and the solstices and equinoxes are shown in green. It can be seen that the equinoxes occur approximately at altitude φ = 90° − 51.5° = 38.5°, and the solstices occur approximately at altitudes φ ± ε where ε is the axial tilt of the Earth, 23.4°.
The winter solstice marks the first day of winter, ushering in the colder weather and holiday season. But daylight saving isn't to blame; the Earth's tilt is. But daylight saving isn't to blame ...
The exact instants of equinoxes and solstices are the times when the apparent ecliptic longitude (including the effects of aberration and nutation) of the Sun is 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°. Because of perturbations of Earth's orbit and anomalies of the calendar , the dates of these are not fixed.
The fall equinox, also known as the autumnal equinox, is when astronomical fall arrives. This year, it will occur at 8:44 a.m. EDT on Sept. 22, according to the Naval Observatory.
The days are short and the nights are long. That can only mean one thing: The winter solstice is coming. The first day of winter for the northern hemisphere of Earth will begin on Dec. 21 at ...