If you’ve read this blog over the years, you know that there have been several entries about and around the equinoxes. There are a lot of myths and traditions associated with these events and those “turning points” have played significant roles in human culture. If you’re interested, you can check the archives to see some of the myths/traditions I’ve pursued a bit over the years.
As I write this, there is only about ten minutes left in the summer of 2010. Since the autumnal equinox is fast approaching, I thought it might be a good time to visit the subject again. Equinoxes signal the changes in seasons — but so do solstices, so what’s the difference —or — are they pretty much the same and just referred to by different names.
Well, they’re not the same — in fact they’re distinctly different.
Most people know that the seasons change because the Earth is slightly tilted on its axis as it travels around the Sun. This means that different points on the ground receive more or less sunlight at different times of the year. If the Earth wasn’t tilted, the Sun would always appear to be directly above the Equator and the amount of light any given location received would be fixed — there would be no “seasons.”
But we do have seasons and every year we have two equinoxes and two solstices. So let’s get the differences out of the way…. solstices are the days when the Sun’s path in the sky is the farthest north or south of the Equator. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year and the summer solstice is the longest day of the year. Equinoxes are the days when the Sun is exactly above the Equator, which makes daylight and darkness of equal length. As you know, the seasons are reversed in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the vernal (spring) equinox occurs about March 21 — day and night are of equal length and that marks the start of spring.
The autumnal (fall) equinox occurs about September 23 — again, day and night are of equal length and this marks the start of autumn.
The summer solstice occurs on June 20 or 21 — it’s the longest day of the year and marks the start of summer.
The winter solstice occurs on December 21 or 22 — it’s the shortest day of the yea and marks the start of winter.
So goodbye summer — hello fall, right on schedule. Seems like solstices and equinoxes are about the only things that haven’t changed this year….
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