Google Doodle celebrates Autumnal Equinox with CUTEST squirrel

At that time, the sun will cross the celestial equator and astronomical autumn will begin. The counterpart of the equinox is the solstice, of which there are two, during the summer and winter.

The Earth has an axial tilt – it does not sit straight in the solar system but instead leans on its axis at a 23.4 degree angle.

As a result, the northern and southern hemisphere either point towards or away from the Sun depending on the time of year.

Our shorter days lead to cooling in the northern hemisphere as we move toward winter.

The term equinox comes from the Latin word equinoxium, meaning “equality between day and night”. This is derived from the oldest understanding of an equinox, which suggests it is the day when daytime and night are of equal duration.

The autumnal equinox is one of 2 days out of the year when at nearly all points on the Earth, outside of the north and south poles, the sun rises due east and sets due west.

Google celebrated the autumnal equinox previous year with an animation showing a man walking along a row of grey trees which transformed into bright colour as he passed by.

March 20, 2016 at approximately 04:30 UT (universal time) – Vernal equinox and first day of spring. We won’t see exactly 12 hours between sunrise and sunset until September 26th. What does the season mean to you, and what do you associate with it?