Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Autumnal Equinox: First Day of Fall

Today in the Northern Hemisphere is the first day of autumn, officially the Autumnal Equinox. This is one of two days of equal light and dark. The Vernal Equinox is the other. In between these two days we have the Summer Solstice and the Winter Solstice—the “longest day” and the “shortest day” of the year. I’ve found a couple of web sites that help to explain the seasonal changes.

First, from The East Antrim Astronomical Society (EAAS) in Ballyrobert, County Antrim, Northern Ireland is this: http://www.eaas.co.uk/news/seasons.html


The BBC, the network that we love for its science and wildlife shows, still does decent work on science. Here’s an example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/earth/solsticescience.shtml


Enchanted Learning has a page about the seasons with links to many other answers to questions:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Seasons.shtml


The Dome of the Sky™ can supply answers to your questions about solstices, equinoxes, eclipses and most things astronomical. http://domeofthesky.com

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