Fall Equinox Marks the End of Summer

The last few hours of summer 2012 have slipped away—the autumnal equinox occurs today (Saturday), marking the start of fall.

What is the autumnal equinox? 

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."

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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 the Northfield area, according to sunrisesunset.com, the sun came up at 7:36 a.m. and will set at 6:19 p.m on the autumnal equinox. You'll notice that this is not actually a perfect 12 hours of light and darkness. As timeanddate.com reports that the disparity is because of issues such as light refraction and other reasons.

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

And if you're now in the autumn mood with the changing of seasons, be sure to get out and take in the changing colors of leaves. 

Are you happy that fall is here? Or do you already miss summer? Share your thoughts in the comments.