What are equinoxes?

An equinox is when day and night are almost the same length all around the world, it's like a perfect balance between light and dark.

Imagine you're playing with a spinning top, and you tilt it just right so that one side gets equal time in the sun as the other. That’s what happens during an equinox!

There are two equinoxes each year:

• One in spring (around March 20 or 21), called the vernal equinox
• One in fall (around September 22 or 23), called the autumnal equinox

On these days, the sun shines directly on the equator, a line that runs around Earth like a belt. This means everyone on Earth gets about the same amount of daylight and nighttime.

If you live near the equator, it might feel like nothing much has changed. But if you're farther away, like in the northern or southern parts of the world, you’ll notice days getting longer or shorter, just like when you move your chair closer to or farther from a lamp!