equinoxes

(noun)

Either of the two times in the year when the sun crosses the celestial equator, and day and night are of equal length. 

Related Terms

Examples of equinoxes in the following topics:

  • Architecture of the Early Dynastic Period

    • Ancient Egyptian temples were aligned with astronomically significant events like solstices and equinoxes, requiring precise measurements at the moment of the particular event.

  • Dates and Calendars

    • The motivation for the reform was to stop the drift of the calendar with respect to the equinoxes and solstices—particularly the vernal equinox, which set the date for Easter celebrations.

  • Architecture of the Maya

    • At the spring and fall equinoxes, the setting sun casts an undulating, serpent-like shadow on the stairways forming bodies for the serpent heads carved at the base of the balustrades.

  • Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis

    • The aurora borealis most often occurs near the winter equinox when it is dark for long periods of time.

  • Ancient Egyptian Monuments

    • Ancient Egyptian architects carefully planned buildings, aligning them with astronomically significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes.

  • Ancient Egyptian Art

    • Architects carefully planned buildings, aligning them with astronomically significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes, and used mainly sun-baked mud brick, limestone, sandstone, and granite.

  • Physics and Mathematics

    • By deriving Kepler's laws of planetary motion from his mathematical description of gravity, and then using the same principles to account for the trajectories of comets, the tides, the precession of the equinoxes, and other phenomena, Newton removed the last doubts about the validity of the heliocentric model of the cosmos.

  • Roots of the Scientific Revolution

    • By deriving Kepler's laws of planetary motion from his mathematical description of gravity, and then using the same principles to account for the trajectories of comets, the tides, the precession of the equinoxes, and other phenomena, Newton removed the last doubts about the validity of the heliocentric model of the cosmos.

  • Neolithic Monuments

    • The east-west orientation of the passages at Knowth suggests astronomical alignment with the equinoxes.

  • Astronomy

    • By deriving Kepler's laws of planetary motion from his mathematical description of gravity, and then using the same principles to account for the trajectories of comets, the tides, the precession of the equinoxes, and other phenomena, Newton removed the last doubts about the validity of the heliocentric model of the cosmos.