What is the Fall Equinox?

 by Lauren Padgett

Today is Sept. 22, the day of the autumnal equinox and the first day of fall.

But what is the autumnal equinox? Most people don't quite know, so let Groton Patch serve as the great explainer for all things equinoctial.

Equinoxes fall on the halfway point between solstices and occur, according to the Washington Post, "when the sun crosses the equator and day and night are of roughly equal length, everywhere in the world."

The nearly equal 12 hours of light and darkness can be attributed to the Earth's lack of an axial tilt on the day of the equinox. In fact, the word equinox is derived from the Latin words aequus, meaning equal, and nox, meaning night.

In Groton on the autumnal equinox, according to sunrisesunset.com, the sun will come up at 6:36 a.m. and set at 6:47 p.m. As you notice, that is not actually a perfect 12 hours of light and darkness. As timeanddate.com reports, this is because of issues such as light refraction and other reasons.

The exact moment of the autumnal equinox this year is 8:44 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time, or 4:44 p.m. in the area.

So, with today marking the official start of fall, who doesn't love a good visit to a local autumn-focused venue? The Harvest Festival at Stonington Vineyards and the Garlic Festival in Olde Mistick Village continue today and Clyde's Cider Mill has those delicious warm donuts just waiting to get in your belly!

See ya next year, summer. Hello fall, and happy autumnal equinox!