AUTUMNAL EQUINOX Celebration at Medicine Wheel Park

Tuesday Sept 23, 2014

7:00 pm – People are encouraged to walk along the North Country Trail to the MEDICINE WHEEL PARK (those unable to do this can drive to the park)

7:23 pm – OBSERVE THE SUNSET

DARK – STAR GAZING till 9PM:  Bring bug spray and a blanket to enjoy the evening. (Due to new light pollution sources at the Medicine Wheel, we will do our best to see stars and constellations, but sadly the experience is greatly diminished from previous years.)

     

Pictures above were from the Summer Solstice June 21, 2013.  Dr. Joe Stickler (pictured) explained the operation of the medicine wheel on summer solstice, the longest day.   Photos for CSiNewsNow.com by Matt Sheppard.  Medicine Wheel Park, Valley City, North Dakota.  Photo album at FACEBOOK to share images with your friends.

“Equinox: equal day and night, but not quite”

(source: http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/equinox-not-equal.html)

“Equinox” literally means “equal night”, giving the impression that the night and day on the equinox are exactly the same length; 12 hours each. But this isn’t entirely true.

In reality equinoxes don’t have exactly 12 hours of daylight.

“Equinox” means “equal night” in Latin. But even if the name suggests it and it’s widely accepted, it isn’t entirely true that day and night are exactly the same on the equinox all over the world – only nearly

On any other day of the year, the Earth’s axis tilts a little away from or towards the Sun. But on the two equinoxes, the Earth’s axis tilts neither away from nor towards the Sun.  The equinoxes occur the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator – the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator. This happens in March and September every year.”

All Events are Free and open to the public!

For more information contact Wes Anderson 701-845-0966