Equinoxes.

Equinoxes. Sometimes the Equinoctial Points (see EQUINOCTIAL) are called the equinoxes. More commonly, by the equinoxes are meant the times when the sun enters those points—viz. 21st March and 22d September, the former being called the Vernal or Spring Equinox, and the latter the Autumnal. When in the equinoxes, the sun, through the earth's rotation on its axis, seems to describe the circle of the equator in the heavens, and the days and nights are of equal length all over the world. At the vernal equinox, the sun is passing from south to north, and in the northern hemisphere the days are lengthening; at the autumnal, he is passing from north to south, and the days are shortening. As the earth moves more rapidly when near the sun, or in winter, the sun's apparent motion is not uniform, and it happens that he takes eight days more to pass from the vernal to the autumnal equinox than from the latter to the former. The equinoctial points are not stationary. See ECLIPTIC, PRECESSION.