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What is Equinox?
Equinox is a unique phenomenon during which the earth’s day and night are of equal length resulting in 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night in every part of the earth. This is not the case on other days. The earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees because of which the length of the day and night differs according to the time of year and the region of the earth.
However, when the earth aligns itself with its orbit around the sun, equinox takes place. This phenomenon occurs twice a year, once on March 20 and again on September 23. During this time, the sun sits directly above the equator and both Northern and Southern hemispheres get equal day and night.
Earth is not alone in experiencing an equinox. All the planets in the solar system experience them.
Types of equinoxes
There are two types of equinoxes. Both the equinoxes that take place in March and September have their own name.
Vernal equinox takes place in March in the Northern hemisphere and in September it is called autumnal equinox. Both the names are reversed in the Southern hemisphere. In March, the vernal equinox becomes autumnal and in September autumnal is venal. This is because seasons are opposite in both hemispheres.
In the Northern hemisphere, the vernal equinox signals the beginning of spring. In the Southern hemisphere, autumn begins and thus it is called the autumnal equinox.
Equinox and culture
Equinoxes have been part of many cultures and traditions for thousands of years. Events like equinoxes mark the beginning of important days such as beginning of the year. Equinoxes dictate when to plant or harvest crops. Japan celebrates both equinoxes as a day to remember ancestors and marks them as public holidays. It is said that the Hindu temple Angkor Wat in Cambodia was made in such a way that the sun rises directly above its central temple during equinox. The temple was built between AD 1113 and AD 1150. There are many such cases found in different religious and cultural traditions.
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