Autumn begins this Saturday, September 23 at 08:50 (official peninsular time). The night is quickly gaining ground on the day. It is a splendid time to enjoy the night sky as it transforms little by little. Here we indicate the ten astronomical keys for the harvest season.
1. Home. Autumn in the northern hemisphere (and spring in the south) will begin on Saturday, September 23 at 08:50 peninsular and Balearic Islands time (07:50 in the Canary Islands).
2. Night and day. The equinox is the time of year when the length of the night is equal to the length of the day throughout the Earth, hence the term equinox (from the Latin fair at night ‘same night’). After the equinox, at the beginning of autumn, is when the night gains ground more quickly than the day: the nights become three minutes longer with each passing day.
3. Watches. Daylight saving time will end on Sunday, October 29. That day, at three in the morning (two in the Canary Islands) we will have to turn the clocks back until two (one in the Canary Islands). The change will make dawn before (in the official schedule) and that the afternoons seem shorter to us.
4. Full moons. The first full moon of this fall will take place on September 29 in the constellation of Pisces. This full moon, the first after the equinox, is usually called the ‘Harvest Moon’, since the light of this full moon allowed the harvesting work typical of this time of year to be extended into the night. The other two full moons of autumn will take place on October 28 and November 27.