"The autumn equinox takes place at 19:20 BST Monday - marking the point when the sun appears to shine directly over the equator. This annual astronomical milestone officially heralds the arrival of autumn along with gradually colder temperatures for the Northern Hemisphere. And it means daytime and nighttime are nearly equal lengths all around the world. After tonight, as we get further into autumn, daytime will gradually keep getting shorter until the arrival of winter."
"Earth takes one year (or 365-and-a-quarter days) to orbit once around the sun and it is tilted over slightly on its axis. 'So for half of the year, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted slightly towards the sun, meaning we have longer daylight hours and hotter temperatures. 'For the other half of the year, we are tilted slightly further away from the sun so we have longer nights and colder weather. It's this tilt that gives us our seasons."
Autumn begins at 19:20 BST on Monday, the September equinox, when the sun appears directly over the equator. Daytime and nighttime become nearly equal worldwide as the Northern Hemisphere moves toward later sunrises, earlier sunsets, cooler days, chillier winds, and dry falling leaves. Daylight will continue to shorten until winter. Earth is tilted on its axis and orbits the sun in about 365.25 days, causing seasonal shifts as each hemisphere alternately tilts toward or away from the sun. When the sun illuminates both hemispheres equally, equinoxes occur in March and September.
Read at Mail Online
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