The Autumn Equinox officially marks the end of the summer in the Northern Hemisphere as planet Earth welcomes the Fall but when will this actually take place in 2024 as people prepare for Spooky Season?
Did you know that the Earth isn’t perfectly aligned and sits on an axis of between 22.1 and 24.5 degrees, creating the impression it is tilting like the Leaning Tower of Pisa? This is what causes seasons.
And it’s for this reason that our planet experiences different seasons rather than a constant, as the axial tilt influences the amount of sunlight the Earth receives from the Sun, our local main-sequence star.
So as the Northern Hemisphere of Earth begins to tilt away from the star, it means Fall/Autumn will begin on Sunday, September 22. The Autumn Equinox is due to commence at 08:44 ET/05:44 PT in the Northern Hemisphere and takes place at the same time across the globe, regardless of location.
Fall is marked by the drop of temperatures and slowing of plant life as the colder months arrive, creating the vivid orange colors and brisky weather that fans of Fall love so much, as well as creating excitement that Halloween is on the horizon.
Why do some places call Fall ‘Autumn’?
Some places, especially in the US, call the season fall, derived from fall of the leaf, while others, like the UK, prefer autumn.
Autumn comes from Latin and entered English via French. Both terms are used, but fall is more common in American English.
Why is Earth on a tilt?
The leading theory for why Earth is tilted at about 23.5 degrees is thought to be due to a collision with a Mars-sized object billions of years ago. This impact knocked Earth off its vertical axis, causing the tilt.
The tilt is responsible for Earth’s seasons, but it is also suspected to be behind the creation of the Moon. The Moon is thought to have formed after the large impact kicked dust and rubble into the air, and as gravity took over, it crushed the debris to become Earth’s local and only, satellite.