The natural Navigation: The Right Course, Naturally

Have you had that feeling recently that the season has not so much shifted to autumn, as snapped?

There is a time each year when we get this feeling and its suddenness not purely psychological, it is because we witness the most dramatic changes in the Earth-Sun relationship at two times in the year: spring and autumn.

Some of the things that we tend to assume change gradually, actually don’t at all. On this blog I have mentioned that the bearing of sunrise and sunset change most dramatically at the equinoxes, in March and September, and briefly stand still at the solstices.

There are other things that change with varying speed over the course of the year and they follow a similar pattern. The length of day hovers at the same length at each solstice, but changes rapidly in spring and autumn. For example, in London (latitude is important),…

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Happy Equinox All!

At nine minutes past three this morning, GMT, the sun was overhead the equator.  To celebrate, here are a few things that you may or may not know about the equinox. Only one of them is not true.

The sun will rise due east and set due west for everyone today.

The direction (bearing) of sunrise and sunset changes by more each day at this time of year than at any other time.

On the December side of the equinoxes the sun is always overhead the southern hemisphere, on the June side it is always overhead the northern hemisphere.

Everyone on the planet shares an equal length day and night on the equinoxes.

Satellites that appear stationary and stay over the same spot on the Earth’s surface are called geostationary or geosynchronous and they remain in orbit over the equator. As the sun passes over the equator…

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At eighteen minutes past ten tonight, neither the north pole nor the south will be pointing towards or away from the sun and the sun will be overhead the equator. It is the autumnal equinox and the sun will spend the next six months overhead the southern hemisphere. During this time it will rise south of east and set south of west.

To celebrate this I headed up to one of my favourite spots last night, Halnaker Windmill, and took this photo. The clouds and light were doing extraordinary things, one of which I am still investigating and will hopefully be able to reveal more about.

Everywhere I go at the moment I am reminded of cycles. Not the type that the Dutch and Boris Johnson are so keen on, no, the natural cycles. The countryside is abuzz at the moment. My sons and I love it when we come across a combine harvester and tractor at work like this. I get excited because it reminds me that we are well past the summer solstice and can start looking forward to the autumnal equinox. Their reasons are probably better.