When It Comes to the Equinoxes, All Things Aren't Equal
As a chiropractor, who has assisted many patients over the years in improving their balance, I’ve always had a bit of a fetish for the concept of balance in all of Nature’s phenomena. As yesterday was the first day of Autumn, I found it very satisfying that the day and night of both equinoxes are 12 hours each, ergo, in absolute perfect balance. Naturally I took a moment at sunset to offer a champagne toast.
So, you can imagine my surprise and disappointment when I read in a nationalgeographic.com article today that the length of day and night were not, in fact, equal on this autumnal equinox or any other for that matter. There are reasons for this, which I won’t go into here, but you can read about them later if you like. I am writing this because I discovered, upon further reading, several other things of which I was unaware that seemed to make the first day of Fall or Spring special nonetheless. I share this bit of whimsy with you, just in case the imbalance of the equinoxes set you off-kilter a bit, too.
For instance, did you know that the spring and autumn equinoxes are the only two times during the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west? It’s true, according to Alan MacRobert, a senior editor with Sky & Telescope magazine. The equinoxes are also the only days of the year when a person standing on the Equator can see the sun passing directly overhead. Yesterday, on the Northern Hemisphere’s autumnal equinox day, a person at the North Pole would see the sun skimming across the horizon, signaling the start of six months of darkness. And, on the very same day, a person at the South Pole would also see the sun skim the horizon, beginning six months of uninterrupted daylight.
I feel better. I hope that you do, too!
For an explanation for the imbalance of the equinoxes and further information, go to nationalgeographic.com
Leave a Comment