What is an equinox? There are only times of the year when t | Ask Me
What is an equinox?
There are only times of the year when the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, resulting in a "nearly" equal amount of daylight and darkness at all latitudes.
These are Equinoxes (in 2013 and 2014) .
The name is derived from Latin words - aequus (equal) and nox (night).
At the equator, the sun is directly overhead at noon on these events.
The "nearly" equal hours of day and night are due to refraction of sunlight or a bending of the light's rays that causes the sun to appear above the horizon when the actual position of the sun is below the horizon.
Additionally, the days become a little longer at the higher latitudes because it takes the sun longer to rise and set.
On the equinox and for several days before and after it, the length of day will range from about 12 hours and six and one-half minutes at the equator, to 12 hours and 8 minutes at 30 degrees latitude, to 12 hours and 16 minutes at 60 degrees latitude.
