Days between solstice and equinox1/12/2024 ![]() Note: it may seem odd to see in the above images that Earth's terminator does not run precisely through the North Pole at the equinoxes, since it is so often depicted that way. You can compare the Sun's location in the demo with those shown above at the times of the equinoxes and solstices! Just drag the demo's red pointer right and left over the names of the months. Here's a related interactive Flash demo showing the Sun's Location Along the Zodiac at Various Times of Year. Since it actually takes about 365 1/4 days, which is what necessitates leap years, equinoxes and solstices must occur at slightly different times each year. In fact, succeeding ones may even take place on different calendar days! Why? It is because Earth does not take an integral number of days to orbit the Sun. The same is true of the Autumnal Equinox and the solstices. You can see that succeeding Vernal Equinoxes do not recur at precisely the same time of day each year. Expressed in days, of course, these are the respective lengths of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. ![]() Relative to the Sun, from the Vernal Equinox to the Summer Solstice, Earth spins on its axis close to 92 3/4 times then to the Autumnal Equinox another 93 2/3 times then to the Winter Solstice another 89 5/6 times and finally to the next Vernal Equinox another 89 times. But remember: it is actually Earth's motion in its one-year orbit around the Sun that makes the Sun appear move eastward through the constellations of the Zodiac. Looking down from directly above the North Pole, we see the relationship between Earth and the heavens at the instants of these equinoxes and solstices. ![]()
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