The fall equinox on Monday, Sept. 23, officially ushers in the new season and its promise of crisp air, show-stopping leaf displays and more sunny afternoons in college football stadiums.
With kids back in school and summer projects not yet checked off the to-do list, fall is an especially busy time of year. But don’t forget to take out some time to visit your local apple orchard or pumpkin patch, or take advantage of other uniquely fall events.
The autumnal equinox isn’t a day-long event, but rather occurs at the exact moment the sun crosses the celestial equator.
In New York City, fall officially arrives at 3:50 a.m. EDT.
We’re also coming up on the end of Daylight Saving Time, which officially ends on Sunday, Nov. 3, but that’s a while off.
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The word equinox comes from the Latin words “aequus,” which means “equal,” and “nox,” which means night. That’s led to the perception that everyone worldwide sees the same amount of daylight and nighttime, but it’s not the absolute truth. To be precise, daylight lasts about 8 minutes longer than nighttime on the day of the equinox.
Here are five other things to know about the September equinox:
1. There’s no guarantee, of course, but the chances of seeing stunning aurora borealis displays increase after the fall equinox, according to NASA. Both the spring and fall equinoxes are good aurora seasons, but autumn produces a surplus of geomagnetic storms — almost twice the annual average.
2. Nobody alive has seen a rare Sept. 21 autumnal equinox, and only young people have any hope of seeing one barring any big shifts in life expectancy. It hasn’t happened on that date in many millennia, and it won’t happen again until 2092 and 2096.
The date of the September equinox varies. Usually, it’s on the 22nd or, as it is this year, the 23rd, but it can occur as early as Sept. 21 or as late as Sept. 24 (that hasn’t happened since 1931, and won’t again until 2303).
The reason: A year is defined as 365 days by the Gregorian calendar, but it takes the Earth 365 and ¼ days to orbit the sun. What this means is the autumnal equinox occurs about 6 hours later than it did the year prior, which eventually moves the date by a day.
3. Thank Canada for spectacular fall sunsets with more vivid with pinks, reds and oranges than at any other time of the year. The Weather Channel offers an explanation: Dry, clean Canadian air begins to sweep across the country, fewer colors of the rainbow spectrum are scattered by air molecules. That means the reds, oranges, yellows and pinks make it through for your sunset-viewing pleasure.