Autumnal equinox

“ At the autumnal equinox, when the sun is crossing from the north side of the equator to the south, the full moon is crossing from the south side of the equator to the north. It is thus higher in the sky, when it souths, on each succeeding night, and is therefore up for a greater length of time. This counterbalances to a considerable extent its movement eastward amongst the stars, so that, for several nights in succession, it rises almost at sundown. ”

“ Where these two planes cut each other we have the equinoxes, because the intersection of the planes defines for us the vernal and the autumnal equinoxes; when the sun is highest and lowest half-way between these points we have the solstices. In a period of 25,000 years the star which is nearest to an equinox will return to it, and that which is nearest a solstice will return to it. ”

“ Among all early peoples the most important times of the year must necessarily have been those connected with seed-time and harvest in each locality. Now the spring equinox and summer solstice south of the equator are represented by the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice to the north of it. If the colonists who came to Eridu came from a region south of the equator, they would naturally have brought not only their southern stars, but their southern seasons with them ”

“ About the 23d of September the sun again crosses the equator, this time at the autumnal equinox, the beginning of the astronomical autumn, and after that it sinks lower and lower (while appearing to rise in the southern hemisphere) , until about the 22d of December, when it reaches its greatest southern declination, 231⁄2°, at the winter solstice, which marks the beginning of the astronomical winter. It is hardly necessary to point out that the southern winter corresponds in time with the northern summer, and vice versa. ”

“ Day commences at the south pole, when night sets in at the north pole; and in every other part of the southern hemisphere the days are longer than the nights, while, on the contrary, our nights are longer than our days. When the earth arrives at the vernal equinox, D, where the ecliptic again cuts the equator, on the 21st of March, she is situated, with respect to the sun, exactly in the same position, as in the autumnal equinox ”

“ Some creatures can make provision against change without stirring from their ordinary haunts; others migrate, quitting Pontus and the cold countries after the autumnal equinox to avoid the approaching winter, and after the spring equinox migrating from warm lands to cool lands to avoid the coming heat. ”

“ Now, from the projections of the astrological science, we are assured that the last half of the grand cycle of 12,000 years, which was allotted to man as the duration of his race on earth, was made to begin at a time corresponding to the Autumnal Equinox, when that cardinal point was passing out of the sign of Virgo, and that of necessity it had to come to an end at a time corresponding to the Vernal Equinox, when that cardinal point was passing out of the sign of Aries ”

“ In common with most others, the Mosaic system of annual feasts groups itself readily around the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. In Lev. xxiii., where the list is most fully given, they seem to be arranged with a conscious reference to the sacred number seven (compare Numb. xxviii.) . Those belonging to the vernal equinox are three in number; a preparatory day, that of the Passover, leads up to the principal festival, that of unleavened bread, which again is followed by an after-feast, that of Pentecost (see Passover, Pentecost) . Those of the autumnal equinox are four ”

“ Now, let us suppose that, at a time when the ellipticity is great, the movement known as the precession of the equinox has changed the incidence of our seasons, so that our summer happens in perihelion and not in aphelion, while that of the southern hemisphere occurs in aphelion, and not, as at present, in perihelion. Under such conditions, the climate of the globe would experience a complete change. ”

“ Tomorrow, the 21st, was the day of the equinox; the sun would disappear below the horizon for six months not counting refraction, and after its disappearance the long polar night would begin. Following the September equinox, the sun had emerged above the northerly horizon, rising in long spirals until December 21. At that time, the summer solstice of these southernmost districts, the sun had started back down, and tomorrow it would cast its last rays. ”

“ In July and August they renew their worn plumage and become extremely fat, and then when the September equinox warns them that the best of the summer is past, they go southwards to the shores of the Mediterranean and to Africa, there to pass the winter till returning spring once more prompts them to risk the perils of the journey and to revisit their summer home. ”

“ But each season is to be begun in such way that the equinox divides the season of spring from its first day; and the season of summer is divided by the eighth day before the Kalends of July, and that of autumn by the eighth before the Kalends of October, and that of winter by the eighth before the Kalends of January in like manner. ”

“ However, the spring equinox is always the sixth "joint," and is the middle of spring season: this and the other "joints" being all about 151/4 days in length, the Chinese seasons can be symmetrically divided with relation to both equinoxes and both solstices; for the intercalary moon (judiciously made unobtrusive, and kept out of vulgar sight as far as possible) settles the lunar year difficulty; and the seasons conform, as of course they should do, to the heat of the sun, which is a much more natural and practical arrangement than our own arbitrarily assorted and unequal months. ”

“ At the latter part of January, when the sun enters into Aquarius, and the equinox is drawing near, when the hoar-frosts in the morning often wear the appearance of snow but are melted by the rising sun. ”

“ The equinox has brought with it darkness and Northern storms, and night will quickly close the short and dismal polar day. The sky of a dull and leaden blue is faintly lighted by a sun without warmth, whose white disk, scarcely seen above the horizon, pales before the dazzling, brilliancy of the snow that covers, as far as the eyes can reach, the boundless steppes. ”

“ The seasonal variations in the movements of the heavenly bodies, along with the recurring seasons themselves, are also determined by the prevalent winds, which, acting as the motive power upon the various zones, form a celestial parallelogram of forces. In this way is ingeniously explained also why in spring the days lengthen and in autumn they shorten until in either case an equinox is reached (Fig. 2) .
‘I looked and behold the east and the south wind with their collaterals, moving the firmament by the power of their breath, caused it to revolve over the earth from east to west ”

“ The axis on which the earth turns. A wind which blows from April to September, they are called Equinoctial gales. When the sun and moon are on the zenith they are said to be in the equinox. A peculiar animal in South America. The part where the earth and sun pass one another. ”

“ When at their equinoxes the other planets undergo a like experience, and indirectly, through the sun, we share in the resultant electrical excitement. Such is the theory, and on such foundations does it rest. Historical records and the reports of the weather bureaus furnish endless confirmations, for every storm finds an equinox to bear the responsibility. In order to include all actual phenomena, the duration of an equinoctial period is put at one-fourth the planet's year, so that each planet spends halt its time in creating disturbances throughout the solar system. ”