The Seasons of Light

Have you ever felt like the light of the day seemed out of season? Or that somehow the day's light reminded you of another day that year? If so, you are not crazy and it is not deja vu. There is a perfectly good explanation for this phenomenon.

We live on a planet that rotates on a mythical axis which in turn orbits around the sun. It takes 24 hours to rotate on its axis and 365 days to orbit the sun. This makes our measure of a day and a year.

There is a mythical line that splits the earth in two called the equator. This line represents the place where there is exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness on the planet at certain times of the year, September 21st and March 21st. They are called the autumnal equinox and vernal equinox respectively. These are the start of the fall and spring seasons in the northern hemisphere.

The angle of the sun moves to the south from June 21st till December 21st and to the north from December 21st to June 21st. These dates represent the first days of summer and winter. As the angle of the sun makes it journey through the days of the year, there is a sort of coming and going effect that matches up days of the year with other days of the year.