Today will be 12 hours long, the night 12 hours also. The sun rose this morning at 26 minutes past six, and will set at 26 minutes past six this evening.
Below: sunset over Chynów, Tuesday 23 September.
But wasn't equinox on Monday 22 September?
Yes, dear reader; that was the moment when the sun passed directly above the equator, heading into the Southern Hemisphere. This year, that particular astronomical event indeed occurred on Monday 22 September., at 18:19 GMT. But here in Chynów, that day was 12 hours and 12 minutes long. The exact 12 hour day-night split is not due until three days later. That's today. And that is... equilux.
In spring – it's the same. Equilux is due two days before the vernal equinox. The former falls on Wednesday 18 March and is the first day of the year longer than 12 hours. The latter occurs on the afternoon of Friday 20 March, marking the sun's return to the Northern Hemisphere.
Whether you live on the equator or near the North or South Pole, the story is the same; equinox and equilux do not fall on the same day. It's just that the difference between day-length between the two is much greater at the poles than at the equator.
So wherever you live on the globe, you get more daylight than night time over the course of the year. We're not talking a lot, but enough to notice.
There are 188 days of the year (51.5% of the total) with a longer day than night, and 177 days of the year (48.5% of the total) when night is longer than day. That's a 3% advantage. Not much, but there, definite, observable.
Why is this?
There are two reasons: the first being that the sun is a disc, not a point; its sinking over the horizon takes a few minutes. The second being refraction of the sun's rays through the earth's atmosphere. And here we see the difference between our perceived reality and absolute geometric truth. There is more light than is geometrically available because of how our atmosphere bends light. Are the truths we observe fundamental, or are they shaped by our existence and our observations?
The physical truth that light slightly outweighs darkness across the globe leads me into metaphysical thoughts. Classical dualist philosophy pitches light against darkness. They stand as proxies for good and evil, knowledge and ignorance, life and non-life. Light's 3% advantage over darkness can be taken as a sign: a subtle, pervasive bias towards creation, life, and goodness that's baked into the fabric of the universe. From the non-dual perspective of Eastern philosophies, light and darkness are not in conflict – they are two sides of a single, balanced unity. The slight bias towards light can be seen rather as a beautiful imperfection. Perfect symmetry is not a universal rule; harmony can exist in a state of constant, gentle tension.
This time last year:
Equilux: the struggle between Light and Dark
This time four years ago:
S7 construction update
Covid – we still really don't know where we are
The magic of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand's Marlborough region
This time 15 years ago:
Grandson of Poles elected to lead UK's Labour Party
This time 17 years ago:
Give me sunshine!
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