All Things Being Equal

This month denotes an astronomical event - the equinox - when days and nights will be approximately equal in length. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, this marks the tipping point where the sun will rise later and nightfall arrives sooner. As things have grown cooler around these parts you don’t have to remind me that autumn is in the air. 

The equinox will arrive on September 22. 

Even though the equinox happens at the same moment worldwide the precise time for you depends-upon your time zone. Translation: this equinox comes early in the morning on September 22 at 8:31 AM CDT. Meanwhile - south of the equator - spring is about to begin. 

The full moon closest to the autumn equinox is called the Harvest Moon. This year the October 1st full moon – closest to our autumn equinox – is our Harvest Moon. The name comes from this moon’s ability to shine light when it is needed the most – to bring in the harvest.

It has been interesting to observe the transit of the setting sun as it has moved from its furthest advance to the north to now set in the west.  The sun only rises due east and due west on two days of the year - The spring and fall equinoxes.