The autumnal equinox arrived on Saturday, September 23, 2023, at 02:50 A.M. EDT in the Northern Hemisphere. The autumnal equinox is an astronomical event that marks the start of autumn (or “fall”). In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumnal equinox occurs in September; in the Southern Hemisphere, it occurs in March.— The Old Farmer's Almanac
During an equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator”—an imaginary extension of Earth’s equator line into space. On the equinox, day and night are roughly equal in length. After the autumnal equinox, days become shorter than nights as the Sun continues to rise later and nightfall arrives earlier. This ends with the winter solstice, after which days start to grow longer once again. The word “equinox” comes from Latin aequus, meaning “equal,” and nox, ”night.”
The photo was actually taken in late spring, 13 June 2023, shortly before the summer solstice, in Decatur, Georgia, USA. The star attraction was, of course, a squirrel: in this case an eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), native to eastern North America. Even then, she was foraging for nuts.
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