David the Contributor here. Today marks the autumnal equinox. That means a couple things, and a lot of astronomical explanation.
Firstly, the autumnal equinox means that we are officially starting Autumn. Hooray. Today’s equinox is supposed to occur around 9:04 PM EST (or 1:04 UTC, if you want to be technical).
Secondly, the autumnal equinox – from my understanding – is sort of like a halfway point between the summer and winter solstices. So, during the summer solstice you have the longest day, and during the winter solstice you have the longest night. Well, the equinox is when both day and night are equal in length.
It’s important to note that Earth’s two hemispheres run on opposite seasons – so while it’s fall here in the US (northern hemisphere), it’s actually Spring in most of South America and places like Australia and New Zealand (southern hemisphere). The equinox is a moment of unity across both hemispheres, as all of Earth receives the same amount of daytime and nighttime.
I’m sure there’s some magical and witchy things people do or believe that’s connected to the equinox, but all I know is that it’s a nifty way to understand our planet’s orbit around the Sun.