Happy Fall Equinox, or Mabon!  Of course, our spherical planet also gives us the beautiful symmetry of the Spring Equinox (& Ostara) being celebrated now by our Southern Hemisphere friends.  The Equinoctial moment, this year, is on September 22nd, at ~11:19 pm UTC (or 7:19 pm EDT).

As our nights achieve dominance, we will likely have more chances to see the northern lights – now that solar cycle #25 has proven that it won’t be a sleepy cycle at all – surpassing estimates and giving us wonderful auroras again and again!  Plus, auroras are more likely near the equinoxes, shown by this most recent show (see image above, taken from Michigan) on September 14.    You can see from the graph at left that though we are near the peak of Solar Cycle #25, we only have around another year or so before it drops significantly, so if you haven’t seen any aurora this cycle, you only have a little more time.

Celebrations

Some of the ways many of us are celebrating were published a few weeks ago.  In addition to those, the night sky is rapidly becoming more accessible now with the growing darkness.  This growing darkness can be a reminder that this is a great time of year for campfires, and celestial events like auroras – especially with Solar Cycle #25 now in full swing (see 2023’s September Equinox post)-  or a time to look more inward.  In whatever way you are celebrating, Happy Equinox!