Autumn Equinox 2010

An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator. The term equinox can also be used in a broader sense, meaning the date when such a passage happens. The name "equinox" is derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night), because around the equinox, the night and day are approximately equally long. It may be better understood to mean that latitudes L and -L north and south of the Equator experience nights of equal length. At an equinox, the Sun is at one of two opposite points on the celestial sphere where the celestial equator (i.e. declination 0) and ecliptic intersect. These points of intersection are called equinoctial points: classically, the vernal point and the autumnal point. By extension, the term equinox may denote an equinoctial point. An equinox happens each year at two specific moments in time (rather than two whole days), when there is a location on the Earth's equator where the center of the Sun can be observed to be vertically overhead, occurring around March 20/21 and September 22/23 each yearoint. September equinox commemorations The September equinox marks the first day of Mehr or Libra in the Iranian calendar. It is one of the Iranian festivals called Jashne Mihragan, or the festival of sharing or love in Zoroastrianism. In Korea, Chuseok is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday celebrated around the Autumn Equinox. The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, oftentimes near the autumnal equinox day, and is an official holiday in China and in many countries with a significant Chinese minority. As the lunar calendar is not synchronous with the Gregorian calendar, this date could be anywhere from mid-September to early October. The traditional harvest festival in the United Kingdom was celebrated on the Sunday of the full moon closest to the September equinox. The September equinox was "New Year's Day" in the French Republican Calendar, which was in use from 1793 to 1805. The French First Republic was proclaimed and the French monarchy was abolished on September 21, 1792, making the following day (the equinox day that year) the first day of the "Republican Era" in France. The start of every year was to be determined by astronomical calculations following the real Sun and not the mean Sun.

• 2010-09-22T17:09:29+00:00
• Duration: 02:13

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Autumn, equinox, 2010, september, Autumn Equinox 2010, Autumn Season, Autumn Equinox, Summer Solstice 2010, Summer Solstice celebrations, Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox, Earth Rotation, Planet Earth, planets rotation, Earth, solar system, earth seasons, Earth Orbit, Solar System, axis of rotation, north pole, south pole, NASA, ESA, Kurdistan planetarium, Kurd, Kurdistan