Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2019 September 23

                 Equinox: The Sun from Solstice to Solstice
                 Image Credit & Copyright: Tun+º Tezel (TWAN)

   Explanation: Today is an equinox, a date when day and night are equal.
   Tomorrow, and every day until the next equinox, the night will be
   longer than the day in Earth's northern hemisphere, and the day will be
   longer than the night in Earth's southern hemisphere. An equinox occurs
   midway between the two solstices, when the days and nights are the
   least equal. The featured picture is a composite of hourly images taken
   of the Sun above Bursa, Turkey on key days from solstice to equinox to
   solstice. The bottom Sun band was taken during the north's winter
   solstice in 2007 December, when the Sun could not rise very high in the
   sky nor stay above the horizon very long. This lack of Sun caused
   winter. The top Sun band was taken during the northern summer solstice
   in 2008 June, when the Sun rose highest in the sky and stayed above the
   horizon for more than 12 hours. This abundance of Sun caused summer.
   The middle band was taken during an equinox in 2008 March, but it is
   the same sun band that Earthlings see today, the day of the most recent
   equinox.

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                  Tomorrow's picture: martian dunes thawing
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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