Saturday’s fall equinox is the first of several daylight milestones ahead

The autumnal equinox is at 1:50 am on Saturday, September 23rd when the earth’s axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun.

The term equinox is derived from two Latin words translating to “equal night,” but day and night aren’t entirely equal on the equinox. As the sun moves directly over the equator, the entire planet sees roughly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night.

In Duluth, sunrise on September 23rd is at 6:56 am and sunset is at 7:04 pm with 12 hours 8 minutes of daylight. The rate of daylight loss is the greatest around the equinoxes with Duluth losing 3 minutes 18 seconds each day.

By Tuesday, September 26, we will have fallen below 12 hours of daylight with a sunrise of 7:00 am and a sunset of 6:58 pm. The rate of daylight loss will continue to be 3 minutes 18 seconds per day into October, then rate will gradually diminish approaching the shortest day of the year.

The next milestone for daylight hours will be Sunday, November 5 at 2 am when Daylight Saving Time ends. The sun will rise and set an hour earlier than the previous day with a sunrise of 6:56 am and a sunset of 4:47 pm.

The winter solstice in 2023 will be at 9:27 pm on December 21st. December 21 will feature a sunrise of 7:52 am and a sunset of 4:22 pm with 8 hours 32 minutes of daylight.