It ’s Officially the First Day of Fall. Here Are 4 Things You Should Know About Autumn

Though Starbucks has been selling its famous pumpkin spice lattes for weeks, fall wasn’t here — until now. The fall equinox, sometimes called the September equinox, is on Saturday, Sept. 22 this year and will mark the first day of fall for the Northern Hemisphere. Just in time for the foliage to appear, here’s everything you need to know about the first day of fall, what happens when the season changes and what kind of weather we can expect this year. When is the first day of fall? The first day of fall is on Saturday, Sept. 22. Beginning at 9:54 p.m. (E.S.T.), it will officially be autumn for the Northern Hemisphere, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. Sept. 22 is the first day of fall because it is when the autumnal equinox — the moment when “a planet’s subsolar point passes through its equator,” according to National Geographic — takes place. In layman’s terms, the autumnal equinox is when the Earth’s equator passes through the sun. Since it is opposite on either side of the equator, the autumnal equinox faces the Northern Hemisphere away from the sun, while the Southern Hemisphere faces towards it. For the Southern Hemisphere, the September equinox is actually the vernal or spring equinox. In the Northern Hemisphere, the vernal equinox takes place on March 20, 2018, when it finally becomes autumn in the Southern Hemisphere — which is why the Northern and Southern Hemispheres experience virtually oppos...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized onetime weather Source Type: news