Cosmic-Observation

Autumnal Equinox 2018

Posted on September 22, 2018 Updated on October 29, 2022

Soothing sounds. I could listen to this all day.

It was a wonderful walk. There was a breeze and the temperature was in the higher 80s instead of the 90s. Fall is finally here. The local trees’ leaves aren’t changing color just yet but, many are ‘leaf dropping’, including the huge Maple tree in my front yard. I sat in my Adirondack for a couple of hours, journaling. I look forward to the mosquitoes leaving. They are still here. ~Vic

The Autumnal Equinox for this area of the Northern Hemisphere was at 9:54pm EDT.

Why is it called ‘an equinox’?
The word comes from the Latin aequus, meaning “equal” and nox, meaning “night”.

During the equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator”. Imagine a line that marks the equator on Earth extending up into the sky above the equator from north to south. Earth’s two hemispheres receive the Sun’s rays about equally. The Sun is overhead at noon as seen from the equator, so at this point, the amount of nighttime and daytime (sunlight) are roughly equal to each other.

From www.almanac.com

Fun Facts & Myths

The Snake of Sunlight
A famous ancient equinox celebration was the Mayan sacrificial ritual by the main pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico. The pyramid, known as El Castillo, has 4 staircases running from the top to the bottom of the pyramid’s faces, notorious for the bloody human sacrifices that used to take place here. The staircases are built at a carefully calculated angle which makes it look like an enormous snake of sunlight slithers down the stairs on the day of the equinox.

From www.timeanddate.com

Other Customs