Monday, September 22, 2008

Happy Fall Y'all!! A Great Start to A New Season


The Prangleys' already have the pots and pans out ready to bang. This is how we bring in the new seasons and of course Ground Hog Day and yes we will all go out to dinner. The autumn equinox is here! This is only one of two days when the sun's direct rays pass over the equator at high noon. Equinox means "equal nights". Why then do we have more than 12 hours of daylight? Today we actually have 12 hours and 9 minutes of daylight. There are two reasons for this. First of all, the sun's rays are bent or refracted as they pass through our paper thin atmosphere. We see the sun before it rises because of this and after it really sets. The definition of a sunrise and sunset also can throw our perfect balance of daylight out of whack. If you look at the definition it states that the sunset takes place when the top of the sun's disc touches the horizon, not its center. A sunrise is also defined as when the top of the sun's disc reaches the horizon. Since we are not talking about the center point this can also cause our equal days and nights to not be so equal this time of year. The amazing part is that once you get to the Arctic Circle, they will not have their equal nights until the first week of October. Here in Lafayette we have our first real equal day and night or as close as it will get to being equal on September 25th. Our sunrise will be at 7:38 a.m. and the sun will say goodnight at 7:39 p.m.


This is one of two myths I am dispelling on tonight's newscast. You will have to tune in at 11 p.m. to see if Niccole can balance an egg on the equinox. You see above that Abbey did not have much luck above before I came in to work. Did I need to teach her a trick? The answer is no. The egg trick on the equinox is a hoax. If you cannot balance an egg on the equinox you cannot do it any time of year. Niccole found that out on the set and we had fun with it! The earth points straight up this time of year with respect to the sun. This 90 degree angle does not mean there is no tilt which in fact would impact gravity. The truth of the matter is the earth has the same tilt throughout the year. It just happens that we have more direct sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer than the winter becaus of the earth's orbit around the sun. This 23.5 degree tilt of the earth on its axis is what gives us our seasons and this does not change. Now if you want to balance an egg, here is what you do. Wet the bottom of it and get a little salt. This should make the egg stand up, but now you know it certainly has nothing to do with the equinox. Now I am hungry for an omelette!!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Autum! lets hope she will be kind to us

Anonymous said...

Yay! I cant wait for the leaves to start changing colors, etc. I love the fall colors because its so vibrant.

Anonymous said...

I think I heard that the tree's will start to change there color's closer to OCT 15th or somewhere around there we will start to see something! :) I can't wait ether!!

I have been telling everyone fall start's at 11:44am with a smile on my face it is one of my fav time's of year other then winter!

Everyone get ready to put out your halloween stuff it's coming! I have already seen people with there stuff out here by the Fairground's not much but there getting ready!

It don't feel like fall out there right now hope it dose soon Maybe early OCT, All have a great day!!!

Justin in Lafayette.

Anonymous said...

Two weeks ago I was at Menards and their Christmas stuff was out. The trees were all lit up. This was before fall arrived.

Anonymous said...

I have noticed the leaves changing already, some are getting into the yellow/orange state

Katie said...

Bring on Fall! My fav time of year and yes we know what will soon follow! Like snow too!

Anonymous said...

This is a bit off the weather, but does anyone know if there is going to be a Haunted Fear Grounds this year? They are usually setting up by now....any input would be appreciated...it is kind of a family tradition...thanks!!!!

Anonymous said...

I would bet they will, you can always contact LSC to find out for sure