Qatar, which is placed in the northern hemisphere, will experience the start of the autumnal equinox today when the sun will be perpendicular to the equator, said experts from the Qatar Calendar House.

Meanwhile, the situation will be opposite in the southern hemisphere, where the phenomenon of the spring equinox will occur.

“On Saturday, September 23, the length of the day and the night in Qatar will be approximately equal. While the day will be 12 hours and 7 minutes long, the night will last for 11 hours and 53 minutes. The sun will rise at 5.23 am and set at 5.30 pm,” said Dr Bashir Marzouk, an astronomer at the Qatar Calendar House.

“The length of the fall semester this year will be approximately 89 days, while the length of the summer semester will be approximately 93 days,” added Dr Marzouk.

The autumn equinox is important as it is an indicator of climatic changes. The directions of east and west can be determined with extreme accuracy on this day, at the time of sunrise and sunset. On Saturday, the sun will rise and set from the exact positions over the eastern and western horizons.

The four astronomical seasons — winter, spring, summer and fall — occur as a result of Earth’s rotation in its orbit around the sun, in addition to the tilt of Earth’s axis to the plane of its orbit at an angle of 23.5 degrees.

On the day of an equinox, daytime and nighttime are of approximately equal duration around the world. They are not exactly equal due to the sun’s angular size and atmospheric refraction.

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