Thursday is the autumnal equinox.
The day is about the same length as the night because of this annual event.
The autumnal equinox means the fall starts and the summer ends in the Northern Hemisphere.
The beginning of spring is marked by the milestone.
The Earth's tilted axis is one of the reasons for the seasonal shifts.
The longest days of the year are in June and December.
The days and nights are roughly the same during the months of March and September.
Our planet also rotates around its axis, which causes the sun to rise and fall on it.
It takes about a year for the Earth to travel around the sun.
The plane of the Earth's path around the sun isn't perfect. It's axis is tilted to one side at the moment.
The sun's rays hit different parts of the world at different times of the year.
More sunlight can hit the Earth when it is tilted towards the sun. The atmosphere is cooler during the winter when the Earth is tilted away.
The Earth is square with the sun's rays. The day and the night last the same amount of time, because the most intense sun rays hit the equator.
This will happen at 9:03 pm. There is an hour and a half later.
The day would take about 12 hours and six-and-a-half minutes if you were standing on the equator. Your shadow would be as small as it would ever be, because the sun would appear more overhead.
The Earth travels around the sun at a speed of 66,600 mph.
The animation below shows how this works.
Our planet is not a perfect circle. The time it takes to cycle through the seasons isn't perfect because its center of gravity is offset from the sun.
When the most direct sunlight strikes the Southern Tropic, the winter season begins. The spring will occur after 89 days.
It will take 93 days and 18 hours to get to the summer solstice and another 92 days and 16 hours to get back to the fall equinox.
It's more than a day that comes with the return of pumpkin spice latte for some people. Many cultures still celebrate the arrival of the harvest season today, as per USA Today.
There is a place in the UK where people gather around a structure to watch the sun rise.
Dave was involved in a previous version of this article.
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