The September equinox will occur on September 23 at 5:35 am IST, marking the point when the Sun crosses Earth’s equatorial plane while moving from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere. The astronomical event occurs twice every year, in March and September, and signals the beginning of astronomical autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.
Earth’s axis is tilted by about 23.5 degrees, causing the amount of sunlight received by each hemisphere to change throughout the year. During an equinox, neither hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, resulting in broadly similar amounts of daylight and darkness across much of the planet.
However, the equinox does not produce exactly 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night everywhere. In New Delhi, for example, September 23 is expected to have roughly 12 hours and seven minutes of daylight. The difference occurs because the Sun has a visible disc and Earth’s atmosphere refracts sunlight, making sunrise appear earlier and sunset later.
India experiences the same global astronomical event, although its regional seasons are also strongly influenced by the monsoon and local climate patterns. After the September equinox, the Sun’s direct rays gradually shift farther south of the equator.
For India and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, daylight will progressively decrease while nighttime hours increase as the region moves towards the December solstice. The change happens gradually over the following weeks rather than immediately on the day of the equinox.
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