meaning of equinox?

Answer 1

An equinox is the point in time when the day and night are both the same length. It is the result of the Sun being 'directly over' the equator, which happens only twice a year(in the fall and spring--the autumnal and vernal equinoxes) due to the fact that the Earth's axis of rotation is not perpendicular to its orbital plane.

In the northern hemisphere, after the Fall Equinox(around 9-21), days get shorter and nights longer, leading into winter. The Winter Solstice(around 12-21) is the date with the longest night, then days get longer until the Spring Equinox(3-21) where day and night are equal again, and on to Summer Solstice(6-21) with the longest day of the year. It is the exact opposite in the southern hemisphere, where the winter correpsonds to the northern summer, and spring occurs during the north's fall. The exact dates for equinoxes and solstices varies from year to year.

The word equinox comes from the latin 'aequus' meaning 'equal' and 'nox' meaning 'night.'

Answer 2

Other answers about equal day and night, and sun being over equator are right, but I'll give some more detail as that might not cover it for you.
The earth goes around the sun on a plane called the ecliptic. The polar axis of the earth is not perpendicular to that plane. This also means that the plane of the earth's equator is inclined to the ecliptic. The polar axis of the earth tilts 23.5 degrees off of perpendicular to the plane of its orbit. This is what causes the seasons. The earth's polar tilt always points in the same direction in space, so the sun will appear more north or more south depending on the time of year.
So picture a point where the polar tilt is neither away from or toward the sun. IOW, a line from the center of the earth to the center of the sun would go right through the earth's equator. That happens at two points in the orbit, on opposite sides of the sun. Those are the equinoxes. That's what's meant by the sun being over the equator. And that's the point where the terminator, (the line between day and night, goes through the poles, making day and night of equal length.

Answer 3

It refers to an astromical "event" or the day on which the event occurs. The event is defined as the placement of the sun directly over the equator. It occurs twice a year, as the sun's position relative to the earth travels north and south with the seasons. The equinox that occurs in March is often referred to as the spring or vernal equinox, and the one occurring in September is often called the fall or autumnal equinox.

Answer 4

It means equal day and night. It is when the Sun is on the celestial equator, which happens twice a year, once in spring, the vernal equinox, and once is fall, the autumnal equinox. All the other days of the year the Sun is either north or south of the celestial equator.

Answer 5

Equinox is a period where the planet's position in the orbit leads to a situation where the sun passes directly over the equator. An equinox occurs twice a year (around 20 March and 22 September), when the plane of Earth's equator passes the center of the Sun.

Answer 6

A equinox is when the sun is above the equator and the weather is the same in both hemispheres. there are two equinoxes. They occur during the spring and fall.

Answer 7

The word equinox derives from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night)

Hence they are the days where day and night are equal in length:

March the 20th and September the 23rd are the equinox dates.

Answer 8

The position and tilt of the Earth such that there is an equal amount of daylight and night. A half-way point between the extremes of Winter Solstice (longest night) and Summer Solstice (longest daylight).

Typically, this happens at a precise time on March 21st and September 21st, although it can vary by several hours into the 20th or 22nd of these calendar dates.

Answer 9

Sounds like it could mean "equal night" with the "c" of "nocto" turned into an "x" or it COULD mean "equal damage or harm" as in "noxious". The first "equal night" makess the mostr sense, since the equinox (both summer and winter) mark the shortest and longest days of the year (?)

Answer 10

Litterally.. "equal night", when the sun is over the equator, & night & day are = (vernal March, spring September).