September Equinox

The earliest humans spent more time outside than we do. They used the sky as both a clock and a calendar. They could easily see that the sun’s path across the sky, the length of daylight, and the location of the sunrise and sunset all shift in a regular way throughout the year.

The name EQUINOX comes from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night).

There are two equinoxes every year – in September and March – when the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night is nearly equal.

Seasons are opposite on either side of the Equator, so the equinox in September is also known as the Autumnal (fall) equinox in the northern hemisphere  and the Spring (vernal)  equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sun over Earth’s equator at equinox

The September equinox (or Southward equinox) is the moment when the sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading southward. Due to differences between the calendar year and the tropical year, the September equinox can occur at any time from the 21st to the 24th day of September.

The September equinox coincides with many cultural events, religious observances and customs. 

In many cultures, the September equinox is a sign of fall (autumn) in the northern hemisphere. In Greek mythology fall is associated with when the goddess Persephone returns to the underworld to be with her husband Hades. It was supposedly a good time to enact rituals for protection and security as well as reflect on successes or failures from the previous months.

The Christian church replaced many early Pagan equinox celebrations with Christianized observances. For example, Michaelmas (also known as the Feast of Michael and All Angels), on September 29, fell near the September equinox.

In the Chinese tradition, the autumn season is associated with the color white, the sound ofweeping, the emotions of both courage and sadness, the lung organ, the metal element, and awhite tiger. Autumn is also connected in Chinese thought with the direction west, considered to be the direction of dreams and visions.
In China the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is celebrated around the time of the September equinox. It celebrates the abundance of the summer's harvest and one of the main foods is the mooncake filled with lotus, sesame seeds, a duck egg or dried fruit.

The Earth during the September equinox.

UT date and time of equinoxes and solstices on Earth
event	Equinox		Solstice		Equinox		Solstice
month	March		June		September		December
year
	day	time	day	time	day	time	day	time
2010	20	17:32	21	11:28	23	03:09	21	23:38
2011	20	23:21	21	17:16	23	09:04	22	05:30
2012	20	05:14	20	23:09	22	14:49	21	11:12
2013	20	11:02	21	05:04	22	20:44	21	17:11
2014	20	16:57	21	10:51	23	02:29	21	23:03
2015	20	22:45	21	16:38	23	08:21	22	04:48
2016	20	04:30	20	22:34	22	14:21	21	10:44
2017	20	10:28	21	04:24	22	20:02	21	16:28
2018	20	16:15	21	10:07	23	01:54	21	22:23
2019	20	21:58	21	15:54	23	07:50	22	04:19
2020	20	03:50	20	21:44	22	13:31	21	10:0

To celebrate this Equinox , I suggest you watching the sky, just go outside around sunset or sunrise and notice the location of the sun on the horizon with respect to familiar landmarks.

Source: Wikipédia, Wikimedia Commons, www.timeanddate.com

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