Autumn and spring equinoxes. Dates of solstice, equinox add your price to the comment base. Events associated with the autumn equinox

The day of the vernal equinox (Spring equinox) is one of the most unique phenomena of nature, the essence of which, in scientific terms, is that “at the moment of the equinox, the center of the Sun in its apparent movement along the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator.”

On this day, the Earth, rotating around its imaginary axis passing through the poles, while simultaneously moving around the Sun, is in such a position relative to the star that the sun's rays, carrying thermal energy, fall vertically on the equator. The sun moves from the southern hemisphere to the northern, and these days in all countries the day is almost equal to the night.

There are spring and autumn equinoxes. UTC (in other time zones, these dates may differ by a day) in the northern hemisphere spring equinox occurs 20th of March when the sun moves from the southern hemisphere to the northern autumn equinox occurs September 22 or 23(in 2019 - September 23)when the Sun moves from the northern hemisphere to the southern. In the southern hemisphere, on the contrary, the March equinox is considered autumn, and the September equinox is considered spring.

The spring and autumn equinoxes are considered the astronomical beginning of the respective seasons. The period of time between two equinoxes of the same name is called the tropical year. This year is today adopted for measuring time. There are approximately 365.2422 solar days in a tropical year. Because of this, the “approximately” equinox falls at different times of the day every year, moving forward by about 6 hours each year.

On the Day of the Spring Equinox, many peoples and nationalities of the Earth begin the New Year: Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan - almost all countries of the Great Silk Road associate the beginning of the new year with this natural phenomenon.

The ancient scientists of China, India, and Egypt knew very well about the days of the vernal equinox. In ancient times, the spring equinox was considered a great holiday.

In religion in ancient times, the day of the vernal equinox was also of no small importance. The date of the Easter holiday, which is celebrated every year at different times, was counted from the day of the vernal equinox as follows: March 21 - the first full moon - the first Sunday, which was considered a holiday.

Many peoples have kept the spring equinox as a holiday in the calendar. For example, in Farsi it is called , which means "new day". Rooted in the traditions of the ancient farmers of the Middle East and Central Asia, the holiday has become an integral part of the culture of many peoples who profess Islam.

In the CIS, the equinox day is celebrated as a national holiday by Tatars, Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Uzbeks and many other nations. In a number of countries, Navruz is declared a public holiday, and March 21 is a day off.

On this day, light and darkness are divided equally. In ancient times, when there were no calendars, spring was determined by the sun. It was believed that it was from this day that renewals in nature begin: the first spring thunder, swelling of buds on trees, violent germination of greenery.

The day of the spring equinox was especially revered in the pagan faith. It was believed that on this day, in the annual cycle, Spring, personifying the revival and rebirth of nature, replaces Winter.

When the sun moves from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere, the autumn equinox occurs.

Speaking of equinox dates, one should distinguish between a date according to universal time and a date for a specific time zone:

if the equinox occurred before 12:00 UT, in some countries located west of the zero meridian, this day may not yet come and, according to local time, the equinox will be considered 1 day earlier;

if the equinox came later than 12:00 UTC, then in some countries located east of the zero meridian, the next day may already come and the date of the equinox will be 1 more.

As conceived by the creators of the Gregorian calendar, the "official" date of the vernal equinox is March 21 (literally "12th day before the April kalends") because such a date of the vernal equinox was at the time of the Council of Nicaea.

The last time in this century the vernal equinox fell on March 21 in 2007 and will fall on March 20 or even March 19 in the 21st century.

Equinox- This is a certain period in the cycle of movement of our planet in the solar system, during which the Sun passes directly over the Earth's equator. This phenomenon can be observed around September 22 and March 20. The exact dates of this phenomenon are adjusted for time zones. This means that due to the difference in time, the day of the equinox may come a day earlier in the Far East than, for example, in Europe or America.

What is EQUINOX - meaning, definition in simple words.

In simple words, the day of the equinox is, as is already clear from the term itself - the period when day and night last the same length of time. Although, in fact, this is not entirely true. The length of daylight hours is influenced by many factors, among which is the position relative to the equator. So a more precise definition would be: The equinox is the period when day and night last practically the same period of time.

Equinox in the year.

As it became clear from the first paragraph of this article, equinoxes occur twice a year and they are divided into:

• Autumn equinox (approximately September 22);
• Spring equinox (around March 20).

The exact days of the equinox in the year and how many days of the equinox can be found in this table:

The vernal equinox.

The spring equinox is the date when the sun is directly above the Earth's equator. During this period, it shifts from the southern to the northern hemisphere. This is the official end of winter in most countries of the northern hemisphere. In either hemisphere, spring is seen as the end of winter and the beginning of the most fertile period in the cycle of the year. Thus, the spring equinox is of great importance for crops and businesses that depend on agriculture or the climate.

Many ancient cultures performed fertility rituals at or near a given time period. The Christian holiday of Easter is no exception, and contains many traces of early pagan holidays associated with fertility. These are all kinds of rabbits, eggs and other elements of the celebration. Many people believe that an egg can only be balanced on its pointed end at the vernal equinox, but this is a myth that may have its origins in pagan fertility rituals.

Autumn equinox.

By analogy with the spring equinox, the autumn equinox is a period that begins around September 22, when day and night are almost equal. Ancient cultures also had various rituals associated with this phenomenon. As a rule, various rituals took place during this period, praising the gods and nature for a good and rich harvest.

How long is an equinox?

As could be understood from the table above, there is no exact and constant value. For each year, this value varies depending on many factors. This means that the equinox can last from several hours to almost several days.

The Autumn Equinox is one of the four sacred holidays that have been revered and solemnly celebrated since ancient times. In addition to the Autumn Equinox, these are the Winter Solstice, the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. Eternal cycle. And so every year in all cultures of the world in all ages and times.

On September 22, 2017, the Sun will once again cross the celestial equator and move from the northern hemisphere of the celestial sphere to the southern one, and the day of the autumn equinox will come, i.e. astronomical autumn in the northern hemisphere, and spring in the southern. On this day, the duration of day and night on the whole Earth is the same and equal to 12 hours.

Ryabinkin name day

In Russia, the day of the autumn equinox was considered a holiday and was always celebrated with pies with cabbage, lingonberries and meat, as well as folk festivals. On this day, rowan brushes, along with leaves, were inserted between window frames in the evening, believing that from this day, when the sun begins to weaken, the rowan will protect the house from the forces of darkness. “When the sun weakens, it’s time to stock up on mountain ash for the future. Remove the lead, place the evil spirits in place. After all, both the rowan branch and the berry are clean. This tree holds firmly the power of the autumn equinox. And if the evil spirits torment you, does not give you sleep, rises to your chest, chokes you, - take a branch of mountain ash, outline it around you - and the evil spirits will perish.

FYOKLA-ZAREVNITSA

On the day of the Autumnal Equinox, the time of the Great Feast of Zarevnitsa begins. The day got its name because of the glow from the steppe fires - they burned dry grass in the fields. Days quickly run away from Zarevnitsa, nights grow dark, and dawns turn crimson. . “The day runs away not with chicken, but with horse steps”. Autumn begins to move faster towards winter.

On this day we went to the forest for mushrooms. The last day of the collection of the king of mushrooms - boletus.

Hammering - they begin to thresh with fire in the morning. Bread is threshed in heated barns. “You can’t thresh a sheaf with folded hands”, “A flail in your hands, and bread in your teeth, and a flail from your hands, and bread from a tooth.”

Honored on this day nominal sheaf. The first sheaf that was compressed was threshed. Grain to grain was collected from him. And the flour from the first sheaf was carried to the big one. The bolshukha baked good bread, then they broke the bread for health. And they were already threshing on Thekla - early in the morning, lighting a fire, protecting that fire from a whirlwind. A whirlwind will fly into the barn, scatter fiery sparks, sheaves will flare up. The family will be left without bread.

"For Zarevnitsa - a handful of bread for the owner, and a pot of porridge for threshers." It used to be: to feed the threshers according to the ancient Russian custom is the care of the hostess. And the first meal that was served to the workers was porridge. Usually cereal, in butter, flavored with milk. And the first measure, which the owner handed over to the threshers, was a heap, a pile of windless grain. The threshers approached the owner with the “neveyka”, the unwinded grain, and congratulated him on a good harvest, wished him good health.

A feature of Zarevnitsa is not only a celebration with festivities and fun, but a gathering of people connected by a common cause, for a business council - Radu.

There is such a belief. Thekla the zarevnitsa walks on this day, tucking up the file of a red sundress. Fekla's hair is straw tufts. What fiery strands of hair. Fekla does not weave them into a braid, does not tie them into a woman's knot.

There is still a belief that on this day everything that you tie up will not be untied, that is, it will be strong happiness, and the wedding will be good.

It was believed that the heart opens to Thekla Zarevnitsa, so the girls wondered, asked the brownie about the betrothed.

Dawn is taken on this day. Dawns are desires about love. From her annoying friends, from seeing her mother's eyes, the girl secretly ran to the barn. In the morning, the barn brownie could tell the girl about her betrothed, about her sweetheart. And often the guys joked, and even the old men, knowing about the girlish thoughts, decided to secretly climb into the barn. And the girl with an eye - did anyone follow? - put her hand through the barn window. I asked hopefully: “The barn brownie, the glowing father, don’t laugh, don’t be cunning, take the orzhan kalach and appoint: should I collect life and being? Will you wait for your spouse?

If someone didn’t touch the girl’s hand, didn’t take the kalach brought by the girl, the girl decided: she should sit in the girls, loite about at the stove, not be the mistress of the kneading. If the cold swell of the hand touched, it was believed that the girl should go for the poor. And the touch will seem warm, shaggy - the rich will take him as his wife.

OSENINY, TAUSEN, RADOGOSCH

Ancient Slavic holiday harvest, Day of Svetovit, Closing of Svarga. Tausen is the end of all peasant seasonal work of the outgoing year, the harvest festival and the day of the autumn equinox. This was old holiday New Year (New Year), the time of the well-deserved awards of the Slav for his labors.

with the onset of the autumn equinox, the Slavs celebrate a great holiday - Tausen (Radogoshch). Sun-husband Dazhbog becomes the wise Sun-old man Svetovit. Svetovit (Grandfather-Vseved) is no longer so high, his rays do not warm, but he has seen a lot in the world, which is why the “old man” is especially honored. A little more and he will leave forever far away to be reborn again.

The harvest has been harvested, the autumn Sun-Svetovit no longer bakes, the trees are preparing for winter sleep, throwing off their beautiful outfits. By this day, a huge honey pie is baked (in the old days the pie was the height of a man), behind which, after the beginning, a priest or elder hides and asks all those gathered: "Do you see me, kids?" If the answer is: "We do not see, father!", then this means a rich harvest, and if: "We see!", then thin, after which the priest blesses the people with the words: “So God grant you that next year they do not ripen!”, and gives a sign to the beginning of the festive "feast by the mountain" ...

According to Slavic beliefs, Svarga is now beginning to “close”, where the Light Gods “leave” from Reveal until next spring, remaining, nevertheless, in the Hearts of all who live according to the Law ... As a sign of this, a straw bird is burned on the Temple, “seeing off » her together with the Light Gods and the souls of the Ancestors in Iriy.

On this day, a fairy tale about a knight and the underworld is played out, which should remind you of the fading sun and the coming winter. Before dark, they kindle a small Fire and jump over it, purifying themselves. Priests walk barefoot on hot coals.

To holiday The first Osenin was timed to coincide with the ancient amusing rite of burial of flies and cockroaches, annoying inhabitants of the Russian summer.

MABON - THE CELTIC FESTIVAL OF THE AUTUMN EQUINOX

On the autumn equinox, the ancient Celts celebrated Mabon - the festival of the second harvest and ripening of apples. Mabon traditions from pagan times are alive in many European countries, where harvest festivals are traditionally held at the end of September. Often the Harvest Festival (Harvest Appreciation Day) is held on the Sunday following the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. This full moon is called the Harvest Moon. Usually the harvest festival takes place at the end of September, but sometimes it falls on the beginning of October. On this day, parishioners decorate churches with baskets of fruits and vegetables from their gardens, produce from farms, and fresh flowers. After the service, this food is distributed to those who need it. Make sure to donate to the local community.

There was a tradition among farmers of holding a special dinner to which everyone who worked on the farm during the year was invited so that the farmer could express gratitude to his helpers. Sometimes these suppers were called the supper of the last sheaf: the harvest is over and the feast begins. Farmers competed among themselves who will harvest the fastest.

In the Middle Ages, the Roman Church replaced the ancient September festivals of gratitude with Michaelmas Day (the day of the Archangel Michael, September 29), the celebration of which inherited many of the traditions of the ancient festivals of the autumn equinox.

Zoroastrianism, SEDE HOLIDAY

The Zoroastrian holiday Sede falls on September 23rd. The summer has passed, everything that should have borne fruit and is now dying, losing its former shape. life force transmitted to fruits and seeds. Sede embodies the law according to which some forms are destroyed, replaced by others in a natural, harmonious way. This law is very important for people as well. Zoroastrians believe that it should also work harmoniously in the inner and outer world of a person. As a symbol of the separation of grains from the chaff, grains of valuable experience from waste material - seeds are eaten on this holiday.

It is believed that when the Sun enters the first degree of Libra, the forces of Evil on Earth are the strongest and most manifested. On this holiday, warriors and priests, and in general all righteous Zoroastrians, gather at the Fires. Either these are eight lights in the house, but more often they did it in nature, they collected a fire in the form of an eight-pointed star. Gathered around this fire and read mantras in order to stop the spread of Evil.

Festivities continue from noon until sunset. They read the prayers of Ahura - Mazda and Mithra - the patron of law and order.

JAPAN, SHUBUN-NO-HI

In Japan, the Autumnal Equinox Shubun-no-hi is considered an official holiday and has been celebrated since 1878. The holiday has another name - Chunichi, which means "middle day". This name is due to the fact that the day of the autumnal equinox falls in the middle of the week called higan.

On the day of the autumnal equinox, Japan performs the rites of the Buddhist holiday Higan, going back into the depths of history. According to the "Law on National Holidays", the corresponding meaning is also embedded on the day of the autumn equinox: "Respect the ancestors, honor the memory of those who have gone to another world."

The Buddhist concept of "higan" can be translated as "that shore", that is, the world where our ancestors went and where their souls settled. Autumn Higan Days is a week that includes three days before and after the autumnal equinox and the autumnal equinox itself. Before the start of Higan, the Japanese do a thorough cleaning of the house, especially the home altar with photographs and accessories of departed ancestors, refresh flowers, and display ritual foods and offerings. In the days of Higan, Japanese families go to bow to the graves of their ancestors, order prayers and provide the necessary ritual honors.

Legislatively, the day for the celebration was established in 1948, and it falls, as Japanese sources say, "about September 23." The exact date of the autumnal equinox for next year determines the National Observatory on February 1 of the current year, making the appropriate celestial measurements and calculations. The week following this day is called Aki no Higan.

By September 23, the peak of summer sweltering heat and daytime heat passes (“heat - until the days of Higan”), and the fertile sunny season of “Indian summer” begins. In Japan, there is a saying: "Autumn Higan is similar to spring Higan."

"Both hot and cold until the days of Higan." So they say in Japan during the period of both autumn and spring days equinoxes.

On the days of Higan, Higan-bana, "the flower of the autumnal equinox," blooms. Another name for the flower is "manjusage", which means "heavenly flower". In Buddhist sutras, there was a mention that bright scarlet flowers fall from the sky, foreshadowing happy events.

The equinox ... happens twice a year, namely, at the intersection of the equinox, the equinox (equator) by the solstice: the spring equinox happens on March 9; autumn, 10 September. Equinox circle, the same, the equator.

"Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language"
V.I.Dal

Autumn equinox for the earthly observer Sergey Ov"

Fig.1 The movement of the Sun on the Day of the Autumnal Equinox in the area north of the Tropic of Cancer. Sunrise is near the east, sunset is near the west

"On the Day of the Autumn Equinox, the length of the day is equal to the length of the night on the entire planet Earth and is 12 hours" - most adults will probably answer the question: "What is remarkable about the Autumn Equinox?", And the children in response can say - "Day and night are the same", but alas, both will essentially wrong.
No, indeed, if the Earth were a smooth rotating ball without an atmosphere, and the Sun a point distant source of light, then everything would be so.
Fortunately, the planet Earth has an atmosphere, and our We see the sun as a disk with an angular size of 0.5 °!
The presence of a significant angular size of almost half a degree at the Sun leads to the fact that in the morning the sun, even at the equator, appears above the horizon 1 minute earlier, and in the evening it hides behind the horizon 1 minute later than if it were a luminous point-star (Earth rotates 1 degree in 4 minutes).
Due to the proximity of the Sun, the day, even at the equator, wins over the night by 2 minutes! (in the extreme north and south, where the sun sets casually towards the horizon, this effect can add not only minutes, sometimes even hours).
Our earthly atmosphere creates another wonderful effect that increases the length of the day - this is refraction, the deflection of light rays due to their refraction in the air. This effect is illustrated in Figure 2.

Fig.2. refraction of the atmosphere. The sun, as a physical body, is still beyond the horizon, but its rays, refracted in the atmosphere, deviate to the surface of the Earth and illuminate it where it should be night, and observers see the Sun before it actually rises!

The contribution of refraction to the increase in the day depends on the state of the atmosphere and at the equator can vary from 1.5 to 4 minutes (an average of 2.5 minutes for each sunrise or sunset and seasonal visual movements of the Sun do not make a big contribution). It turns out that even at the equator the day is always longer than the night at least 10 minutes!
Let's see what happens to the duration of daylight hours, on the Day of the autumnal equinox in different cities of the planet Earth, both in the northern hemisphere and in the southern (Fig. 3)

Rice. 3. The exact time of sunrise and sunset in various cities of the planet on the Day of the Autumnal Equinox:
• Murmansk- the duration of the day is 12 hours 22 minutes, the difference in the longitude of the day and the next night Δ = 40 minutes;
• Rome- the duration of the day is 12 hours 10 minutes, the difference in the longitude of the day and the next night Δ = 19 minutes;
• Kampala(almost at the equator) - the duration of the day is 12 hours 7 minutes, the difference in the longitude of the day and the next night Δ = 14 minutes;
• Cape Town- the duration of the day is 12 hours 6 minutes, the difference in the longitude of the day and the next night Δ = 12 minutes.
(if you click on the map of Kampala, then by changing the dates, you can clearly see that at the equator the day is always longer than the night)

It turns out that in our native Russian Murmansk, by the way, the largest city in the world beyond the Arctic Circle, on the autumn equinox, the day is longer than the night by as much as 40 minutes, even much further south, in Rome, the difference is still significant - 19 minutes.
The error of the original statement about the equality of day and night is easily corrected by adding the word "almost" as it is done in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia: "at the equinox day is almost equal to night ...".
With the exact same approach, it turns out just the opposite. on the day of the equinox on the planet Earth there is not a single point where the day would be equal to the night!
In the Northern Hemisphere, the alignment of day and night occurs after the autumnal equinox, and in the Southern Hemisphere before it. In Moscow, for example, alignment of day and night falls on September 25 - 26 after these days the night becomes longer than a day:

Sunrise: 06:17
Sunset: 18:28
Sunny noon: 12:23:19 MSK
(Fri, 22 Sep 2019 09:23:19 GMT)
Sun elevation angle (max): 34.172°
(or 34° 10′ 20″)
Day: 12 hours 11 minutes;
Night: 11 hours 45 minutes; Δ = 26 min!

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Now it's time to figure out why the supporters of comparing day and night on the equinox turned out to be "not right in essence".
As the data in Figure 3 clearly show, at the Equinox, the length of the day is most aligned across the globe.
It was this sign that our ancestors decided to take as fundamental for the name of the event: Equal Day across the Earth = Equinox- it sounds unifying, optimistic and in fact more true, in contrast to the gloomy Western Equinox(literally from Latin " equal to the night" -This is where the roots of the universal centuries-old delusion are!).

How is the Autumnal Equinox "appointed" and what is the equinox?

Within the framework of modern astronomical science, the most obvious definition for an earthly observer is accepted: Exact date The intersection of the center of the Sun with the celestial equator is called the equinox. From the point of view of a space observer at the time of the equinox, the tilt of the earth's axis coincides with the direction of its orbital motion(the plane of the earth's axis is perpendicular to the line connecting the centers of mass of the Earth and the Sun - Scheme 1).
Thus, the point of intersection of the celestial equator with the ecliptic through which the Sun passes moving from north to south is called point of the autumnal equinox(ecliptic coordinates 180°, 0°; equatorial coordinates 12h00m00s, 0°; currently located in the constellation )

The point in the Earth's orbit at the autumnal equinox is called orbital point of the autumnal equinox .

The day of the Autumnal Equinox is the day on which the moment of the autumnal equinox falls.

In 2019, throughout Russia, the Autumn Equinox Day is celebrated on September 23 from Kamchatka with Chukotka to Kaliningrad (MSK-1 from the time point 04:54 falls within the limits of 09/23/2019 with a margin).

Scheme 1. Planet Earth at the orbital point of the autumnal equinox, the plane of the ecliptic and the inclination of the earth's axis

Earth at the summer solstice and the tilt of the earth's axis
Earth at the autumnal equinox, ecliptic and tilt of the earth's axis, mini

Click on image to enlarge and see explanation...

The main sign of the orbital point of the autumn equinox is that at this point the plane of the earth's axis perpendicular to the ecliptic also forms a right angle with the direction to the Sun and, therefore, the angle between the direction to the center of the Sun and the line of the earth's axis is exactly 90 ° ( The earth is rotated so that both poles are visible from the direction of the sun).

Events associated with the autumn equinox

According to the basics of celestial mechanics, as well as the Law of the Russian Federation "On the Calculation of Time", the date of the Autumnal Equinox in Central Russia in a leap year and the next one is usually September 22, in the next 2 years September 23.

In 2019, the Earth will be at the autumnal equinox September 23, 2019 10:50 AM(09/23/2019 07:50 UTC - ).

In this case, the following events will occur:

1. Will come astronomical autumn.
2. According to the zodiac position, the Sun will move into Libra.
3. Day length all over the planet will be as equal as possible.
4. at the equator on midday The sun will be at its zenith.
5.The sun will rise almost exactly in the east, a will come almost exactly on west (Fig.1).
6. By measuring the angle of maximum elevation of the Sun h sun(Fig.1), can determine the latitude

φ = 90° - h sun,

in Moscow, for example,

φ = 90° - 34.460° = 55.54°.

7. All Over the Earth the day will be longer than the night.
8. In the Northern Hemisphere, shortly after the equinox, the day will equal the night ( in Germany, for example, such a day is specially marked as Equilux ), and the polar night will come beyond the Arctic Circle

On the morning of this day, at a clear dawn, a ray of sun will touch the stone mark of the autumnal equinox at Stonehenge, just like in other ancient structures designed to provide calendar timekeeping.

Customs and Traditions Associated with the Autumn Equinox

In pre-revolutionary Russia, the Autumn Equinox fell on September 9-10, by which time the people had already managed to celebrate both the New Year and the calendar arrival of autumn. By the day of the equinox, as a rule, the "dull time" came, so no one particularly celebrated the autumn equinox. This date very often falls on the Orthodox Day of Remembrance of Peter and Paul - "Peter and Paul of the Autumn", so this equinox is commemorated with them ...
But in Japan, the Autumnal Equinox Day is Public Holiday(Jap. 秋分の日 Shu: bun-no hi or Shubun no hi), but also in Russia, it is "Remembrance Day".
In modern Europe, all kinds of autumn fairs and festivals coincide with this day, but stable traditions have not yet developed.

Unfortunately, nothing can be reliably said about the ancient Slavic celebrations on the eve of the autumn equinox - practically nothing has come down to our days from the pagan mythology of Russia.
In addition, the pantheon of East Slavic gods mentioned in ancient sources is so small in number that it provides an opportunity for an unlimited flight of fantasy in writing "Proto-Slavic mythology" and "recreating" numerous "ancient" holidays...

Proverbs and sayings related to the autumn equinox

Summer ends in September.
"The equinox in spring shows light, in autumn - twilight."

Orbital point of the Earth's autumnal equinox

By definition, the equinox is a moment that is quite difficult to practically establish with great accuracy (and, as a result, expensive), therefore it is determined by calculation, and refining measurements are taken directly on the equinox.
When calculating, you can use the following signs of the autumn equinox:

The angle between the direction to the center of the Sun (S fall O) and the line of the earth's axis (S fall N) is exactly 90° ();
- the plane passing through the center of the Sun and the axis of the Earth has an inclination to the plane of the ecliptic 90° - ε = 90° - 23.44° = 66.56°,
- the line of intersection of the plane of the equator with the plane of the ecliptic coincides with the line connecting the center of the Sun and the center of the Earth (direction to the Sun - B 2 O, );
- the line connecting the center of the Sun and the center of the Earth passes through the equator.

In the figure of scheme 1, it is not at all accidental that the semiaxis of the Earth's orbit - the line A 1 O is shown noticeably smaller than the semiaxis OA 2. This is true - the Earth's orbit is currently stretched towards the point of the summer solstice.
As a result, the time interval from the moment of the spring equinox to the autumn equinox is longer than from the autumn equinox to the spring equinox by 7 days 13 hours 21 minutes (March 2019 - September 2019 interval 186.4 days and September 2019-March 2019 interval 178.84 days). The average difference of equinox intervals for this century is 7 days. 13h 37m

autumnal equinox
Earth observation

Sergey Ov

On the day of the equinox, the Sun rises almost exactly in the east and sets almost exactly in the west, and if you measure the angle of maximum elevation of the Sun h sun, then you can easily determine the latitude of the area φ \u003d 90 ° -h sun.

Earth at the autumnal equinox
View from near-Earth space

Earth at the autumnal equinox, tilt of the earth's axis (big picture)
Sergey Ov

Designations:
B 2 B 1 - a line connecting the center of the Sun and the center of the Earth - the direction to the Sun;
S autumn - the orbital point of the autumn equinox at the moment coincides with the center of the Earth;
S autumn N - line of the earth's axis;
∠CS autumn N - tilt angle of the earth's axis ε = 23.44° (23.4392811° ± 0.0047222°);
∠CS autumn O - the angle between the direction to the Sun and the plane of the earth's axis;
d is the angle of incidence of sunlight at the equator at noon (the sun is at its zenith).

At point S, autumn, the plane of the earth's axis perpendicular to the ecliptic, also forms a right angle with the direction of the Sun

Sergey Ov(seosnews9)

1. Equinox- the moment at which the center of the solar disk, during its apparent annual movement along the ecliptic, crosses the celestial equator. On the days of the equinoxes, the length of the day on the whole Earth, excluding the regions of the earth's poles, is almost equal to the length of the night, differing from 12 hours only by a few minutes due to refraction and a significant angular diameter of the Sun. The point at which the center of the Sun crosses the equator when moving from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere is called the vernal equinox, the opposite point is the autumn equinox.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd ed. 1969 - 1978

2. Celestial equator- a great circle of the celestial sphere, the plane of which is perpendicular to the axis of the world, is a projection of the plane of the earth's equator onto the celestial (stellar) sphere. The celestial equator divides the stellar sphere into the northern and southern hemispheres, the poles of which are called, respectively, the celestial poles. The constellations on which the celestial equator is projected are called equatorial.

3. Ecliptic- trajectories of the annual movement of the Sun visible from the Earth. The plane of the ecliptic coincides with the plane of the Earth's orbit

The autumnal equinox is the name of the astronomical phenomenon in which every year in September the day is equal to the night.

In 2018, the autumnal equinox in GMT (UT) will occur on September 23 at 01:54, and in Tbilisi time on September 23 at 05:54.

What happens on the autumn equinox

It is worth noting that in reality the day today, both north and south of the equator, will last longer than the night. This is due to the fact that the sun's rays are refracted in the Earth's atmosphere, and during sunrise and sunset, the solar disk for the observer is somewhat "raised" above the horizon, which makes it seem that the morning comes a little earlier, and the evening - a little later. This phenomenon is called "atmospheric refraction", and if it were not for it, day and night would indeed be light and dark times of the day would be equally long.

By the way, in the Northern Hemisphere, astronomical autumn and winter together last five days less than spring and summer, and in the Southern Hemisphere, on the contrary, five days longer. This is due to the fact that the Earth during this period passes through a part of its orbit closer to the Sun, which is why it moves somewhat faster. At the same time, contrary to a common misconception, the change of seasons itself is not associated with a change in the distance to the Sun (which becomes minimal at the height of winter in the Northern Hemisphere), but with the fact that the Earth's axis of rotation has an inclination to the plane of the Earth's orbit.

The autumnal equinox is of interest not only from an astronomical but also from a cultural point of view, since many folk traditions It was taken into account that during this period the night becomes longer than the day.

Customs, traditions

Since ancient times, four sacred holidays have been solemnly celebrated, including the autumnal equinox, to which the people attached mystical significance.

People believed that the connection between the dead and the living was especially strong on this day.

In those distant times, they lived according to the natural calendar, according to which New Year began with the onset of the autumn equinox. During this period, people thanked the gods for the harvest and prosperity and honored the dead by decorating their graves.

The Slavs celebrated the New Year in September - the holiday symbolized the beginning of a new life cycle. The traditions of this holiday go back to ancient times. In those distant times, the Slavs, after the harvest, arranged brides, weddings and festive festivities.

Slavs in September, according to tradition, celebrated several holidays. The first - Osenins (giving away Ovsen), celebrated at the beginning of autumn. According to Slavic mythology, Ovsen is a deity who was responsible for the change of seasons. On the holiday, people thanked the Spirits and Nature for all the gifts, including the harvest.

On the day of the autumn equinox, the ancient Slavs had the seventh month of the year - Veresen (Tausen, Radogoshch). It was dedicated to Veles - the god of the three worlds (Rule, Reveal, Navi) or "three sides of being."

According to tradition, the ancient Slavs celebrated the holiday for two weeks - seven days before and seven days after the autumn equinox. They drank during the festive feasts honey drink suryu. The drink was infused with freshly picked hops.

The most popular, among the delicacies on holiday table, was baking. According to the ancient Slavic tradition, pies with cabbage brought wealth, with meat - they helped in a career, and with lingonberries - in love.

After the autumn equinox in Ancient Russia, the goddess Zhiva was escorted to the heavenly kingdom - Svarga, thanking her for the donated harvest. According to ancient tradition, the kingdom of heaven was closed for the winter.

tradition, the kingdom of heaven was closed for the winter.

The opening of Svarga in pagan times, according to tradition, was celebrated on the spring equinox, which falls on March 21. The spring equinox coincided with the last day of the festive week on Komoyeditsa (Shrovetide).

The ancient Slavic holiday Velesen, after the adoption of Christianity, the church replaced the Christmas holiday Holy Mother of God Orthodox Christians celebrate it on September 21st.

holiday rituals
In Russia, in the old days, they performed various rituals to attract happiness and good luck, as well as to improve their financial situation. Some of these rituals have survived to this day.

For example, wealth was attracted by such a ceremony - they baked round-shaped pies with cabbage or apples. Improvements in financial condition were expected in the near future if the dough rose quickly and the cake itself did not burn.

Another rite helped to complete the unfavorable period in life - for this, they burned all the old things in the yard, after a general cleaning in the house.

During the autumn equinox, as was believed in the old days, water had a special power. Therefore, in the evening, the girls necessarily performed the ritual of washing. And the old people and children needed to swim in order to maintain their health.

The people believed that love energy was especially strong on the day of the autumn equinox, so during this period they performed a marriage ceremony and established relationships with their soulmate.

Marriable girls performed various ceremonies: some put a second pillow on the bed, saying “my soulmate, come”, others burned walnut branches on a saucer with thoughts of imminent marriage and the ashes were scattered on the street in the evening.

Signs on September 23, 2018

The weather, according to signs, will be the same all autumn as it was on the autumn equinox.

The upcoming winter was judged by the rowan harvest - the more berries in the clusters, the colder the winter would be.

According to signs, autumn will be long, and winter will come late if there are a lot of cobwebs on the day of the autumnal equinox.

If the cranes are in a hurry to fly away, this is a clear sign that a harsh winter is coming.

According to signs, winter will come soon if the willow leaves begin to fall off.

A poorly laid table for the autumn equinox is a sign indicating that much will be missed in the coming year.

It was considered a good omen to visit their parents, so the children tried to visit their father's house in the morning.

Finding a “stone of luck” on the autumn equinox is a symbol of change for the better, good omen. Therefore, people, on the way home, carefully looked under their feet, so as not to miss their happiness.

By the way, an inner feeling helped to find a stone that became a talisman. So, be careful and don't miss your luck!