New approach to the Equinox

gkell2

The older view will always be an awkward description -

"An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator." Wikipedia

The new approach is easier to understand,at least with familiarity,as it focuses attention on what happens at the North and South poles -

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=468

Instead of the normal daily sunrise/sunset times we experience due to daily rotation,at the polar coordinates they experience only one of these events each year due so this region of the world will act like a beacon or a window into the orbital behavior of the Earth and that becomes the focus of attention for a new approach through the idea of an orbital dawn and twilight.

Instead of 'tilt' towards and away from the Sun or any variation on this theme,it is much better to consider that today on the Equinox, the North pole will see the Sun for the first time in 6 months and the South Pole will turn away from the Sun where it will disappear until late September when the South polar coordinate turns back through the circle of illumination and into the light of the visible Sun.

What puzzles most observers is that the Earth stays rotationally aligned to the same external point throughout it orbital cycle,in our part of the world it will be towards Polaris,so variations in 'tilt' to the Sun become problematic -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYqh72i2mhg

The answer is actually more obvious than people imagine and contemporary images help greatly in introducing a second orbital day/night cycle that explains away all effects and observations that cannot be done with the 'tilt' explanation.