Fall Equinox, 2016
22/09/16 05:27
I am not completely sure, but when I write a blog post on the weather it might mean that I am a bit tired. At least it has been a busy time and the last couple of days have been pretty long by the time I got through my evening meetings. At any rate, I know that I am affected by the weather and that one of the joys of my life is living in a place that experiences all four seasons, so the equinox seems like a good tim to comment on the changing of seasons.
When we visit Costa Rica, which is close to the equator, the days and nights are equal in length. The sun rises at about 6 am and sets at about 6 pm. Days are approximately the same length summer and winter and the main indicators of the change of seasons is a change in the amount of precipitation. But it is different here in our home.
Today is the autumn equinox and we’ll see close to 12 hours of sunlight. The sun will rise at 6:41 am and set at 6:49 pm. It is a sign that summer is coming to an end and winter will follow in due course. But in between those seasons we have autumn, which generally is a glorious season here. You can really sense the changing of the seasons. The trees are beginning to turn color and a drive through the hills yields some pretty beautiful vistas with gold and red appearing amidst the green of the pine forest. And things are beginning to cool off a bit, though we’re still seeing daytime highs in the 60s and 70s. Today and tomorrow are the best chances in the next week or so for a bit of rain, with the forecast calling for likely thundershowers tomorrow.
Since we inhabit a place in the northern hemisphere, we remain fairly aware of the tilt of the the earth’s axis. But on the equinox, the sun lines up pretty well with the compass, rising almost due East and setting due West. It is a fun phenomenon because our home is aligned fairly well with the cardinal directions, facing north with our back death to the south. Most of the year, in part because of the alignment of the neighbors’ houses and the variations of the hills, we get ourselves a bit disoriented about directions. With the sun spending its time to the south in the summer (from our perspective) we tend to think that north is a bit east of its real location. On the equinox, however, we get our bearings straight and the house feels like it is lined up the way it should be. We’re not long on east-facing windows, but the room where I write has a window looking in that direction and that is the way I face when writing. Of course, it is still pretty dark as I have over a hour before sunrise as I write this morning.
Part of what makes our planet such a good place for humans and other animals to inhabit is the relatively mild tilt of our axis. In our solar system, the nightmare planet is Uranus. Not only is it a long way away from the Sun and therefore a lot colder, its axis is tilted nearly 90 degrees. It takes Uranus 84 years to orbit around the sun. That means that the winters have incredibly short days and last 42 years! It wouldn’t be a good place for a person with seasonal affective disorder.
I don’t have much experience with places that have less sunlight.as I have lived all of my life in a fairly narrow range north to south. I do, however, pay attention to areas to the north and am wanting to travel to northern Canada and Alaska one of these years. Although I long to visit a place with consistent views of the Norther Lights, I think the season for a visit, at least a first visit, would be summer, when the days are very long and the nights quite short. The reverse, I think, might encourage a bit of lethargy. At least I know that I have a tendency to sleep a bit more in the winter than in the summer.
Autumn in our part of the world, however, means that spring is coming for our friends in the southern hemisphere. We have friends in Australia and South Africa where they are welcoming the warming season. I know, of course that the equinox is technically not an entire day, but rather a precise moment when the Sun crosses the celestial equator, but for all practical purposes today is the beginning of autumn for us and the beginning of spring for our southern friends.
The date of the equinox varies because our calendar isn’t precisely aligned with the orbit of the earth. We lose a roughly a quarter of a day each year and make that time up with a leap day every four years. Tis means that each September equinox occurs about 6 hours later than the previous year’s September Equinox. This eventually movers the date by a day. Then there is the variation of the time zones around the globe. The official equinox is measured by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC is the official designation of the time we used to call “Greenwich Time.” It is six hours ahead of the time here in Rapid City. Then, to add to the confusion and entertainment, we play a game here called “Daylight Savings Time” that changes things by an hour, but only during part of the year. So I prefer to just think of the changing of the seasons in terms of the entire day rather than a specific moment. Google that and you are likely to end up looking at an advertisement for the model of Chevrolet Car known as the Equinox.
The indigenous people of this region counted the passing of time by counting seasons. A person’s age was reported as the number of winters that person had survived. By that measure, I’ve noticed that the winters don’t seem as far apart as they did when I was younger and I’m sensing the coming of another to add to the collection.
So enjoy the day. Even with the clouds in the sky it is an opportunity to reflect on the passage of time and the changing of seasons.
When we visit Costa Rica, which is close to the equator, the days and nights are equal in length. The sun rises at about 6 am and sets at about 6 pm. Days are approximately the same length summer and winter and the main indicators of the change of seasons is a change in the amount of precipitation. But it is different here in our home.
Today is the autumn equinox and we’ll see close to 12 hours of sunlight. The sun will rise at 6:41 am and set at 6:49 pm. It is a sign that summer is coming to an end and winter will follow in due course. But in between those seasons we have autumn, which generally is a glorious season here. You can really sense the changing of the seasons. The trees are beginning to turn color and a drive through the hills yields some pretty beautiful vistas with gold and red appearing amidst the green of the pine forest. And things are beginning to cool off a bit, though we’re still seeing daytime highs in the 60s and 70s. Today and tomorrow are the best chances in the next week or so for a bit of rain, with the forecast calling for likely thundershowers tomorrow.
Since we inhabit a place in the northern hemisphere, we remain fairly aware of the tilt of the the earth’s axis. But on the equinox, the sun lines up pretty well with the compass, rising almost due East and setting due West. It is a fun phenomenon because our home is aligned fairly well with the cardinal directions, facing north with our back death to the south. Most of the year, in part because of the alignment of the neighbors’ houses and the variations of the hills, we get ourselves a bit disoriented about directions. With the sun spending its time to the south in the summer (from our perspective) we tend to think that north is a bit east of its real location. On the equinox, however, we get our bearings straight and the house feels like it is lined up the way it should be. We’re not long on east-facing windows, but the room where I write has a window looking in that direction and that is the way I face when writing. Of course, it is still pretty dark as I have over a hour before sunrise as I write this morning.
Part of what makes our planet such a good place for humans and other animals to inhabit is the relatively mild tilt of our axis. In our solar system, the nightmare planet is Uranus. Not only is it a long way away from the Sun and therefore a lot colder, its axis is tilted nearly 90 degrees. It takes Uranus 84 years to orbit around the sun. That means that the winters have incredibly short days and last 42 years! It wouldn’t be a good place for a person with seasonal affective disorder.
I don’t have much experience with places that have less sunlight.as I have lived all of my life in a fairly narrow range north to south. I do, however, pay attention to areas to the north and am wanting to travel to northern Canada and Alaska one of these years. Although I long to visit a place with consistent views of the Norther Lights, I think the season for a visit, at least a first visit, would be summer, when the days are very long and the nights quite short. The reverse, I think, might encourage a bit of lethargy. At least I know that I have a tendency to sleep a bit more in the winter than in the summer.
Autumn in our part of the world, however, means that spring is coming for our friends in the southern hemisphere. We have friends in Australia and South Africa where they are welcoming the warming season. I know, of course that the equinox is technically not an entire day, but rather a precise moment when the Sun crosses the celestial equator, but for all practical purposes today is the beginning of autumn for us and the beginning of spring for our southern friends.
The date of the equinox varies because our calendar isn’t precisely aligned with the orbit of the earth. We lose a roughly a quarter of a day each year and make that time up with a leap day every four years. Tis means that each September equinox occurs about 6 hours later than the previous year’s September Equinox. This eventually movers the date by a day. Then there is the variation of the time zones around the globe. The official equinox is measured by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC is the official designation of the time we used to call “Greenwich Time.” It is six hours ahead of the time here in Rapid City. Then, to add to the confusion and entertainment, we play a game here called “Daylight Savings Time” that changes things by an hour, but only during part of the year. So I prefer to just think of the changing of the seasons in terms of the entire day rather than a specific moment. Google that and you are likely to end up looking at an advertisement for the model of Chevrolet Car known as the Equinox.
The indigenous people of this region counted the passing of time by counting seasons. A person’s age was reported as the number of winters that person had survived. By that measure, I’ve noticed that the winters don’t seem as far apart as they did when I was younger and I’m sensing the coming of another to add to the collection.
So enjoy the day. Even with the clouds in the sky it is an opportunity to reflect on the passage of time and the changing of seasons.