Fall Equinox 2024: There GOES Summer!

Images

The Fall Equinox in 2024 happened on September 22. According to the astronomical definition of the seasons, the autumnal (or fall) equinox marks the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, which lasts until the winter solstice (around December 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere). This is the astronomical definition of the changing of seasons as the tilt of the earth on its axis will lead to summer in the southern hemisphere as we head into winter up here in the northern hemisphere.

The GOES satellites can provide a unique view of the earth as we pass through the various seasons. The angle of the shadow at sunrise or sunset (satellite time, or at the satellite nadir point) shows how earth progresses through the seasons from summer solstice to fall equinox. Watch the reflection of the sun (aka “sunglint”, the shiny spot which starts west of Mexico over the eastern Pacific in the GOES-East animation) migrate toward the equator over the course of summer; it ends up predictably right over the equator on the fall equinox.

GOES-East (GOES-16) Full Disk “CIMSS Natural Color” animation from June 20-September 22, 2024 at local sunset (23:00 UTC). Click to animate! (https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2024/09/GOES16_Solstice2Equinox2024_Sunset_CIMSSTrueColor_Logos.mp4)
GOES-West (GOES-18) Full Disk “CIMSS Natural Color” animation from June 20-September 22, 2024 at local sunrise (15:00 UTC). Click to animate! (https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2024/09/GOES18_Solstice2Equinox2024_Sunrise_CIMSSTrueColor_Logos.mp4)

Webapps about the Seasons

Screen shot of the webapp where one can explore the effect of the angle of incidence on sun’s energy. (Click on the image to go to the webapp.)
Explore the changing seasons on Earth by relating the orbit, rotation and solar insolation with this webapp by T. Whittaker. (Click on the image to go to the webapp.)

These images were made using NOAA data with geo2grid software, from UW-Madison, SSEC. T. Whittaker is thanked for the webapps.

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