Longer nights starting Tuesday after autumnal equinox Monday – PAGASA

Day and night will be almost the same length on Monday due to the autumnal equinox, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.

 

But after that, PAGASA officer-in-charge Vicente Malano said nights will start getting longer after the September 23 equinox.

 

"(After Sept. 23), Philippine nights will be longer as the Sun approaches the celestial equator," Malano said.

EarthSky.org said the equinox is estimated to occur at 8:44 p.m. UTC. With the Philippines eight hours ahead, equinox is estimated to come at 4 a.m. Monday.

 

During the equinox, day and night are "approximately equal in length," after which the nights will start getting longer, EarthSky.org said.

 

"Because Earth doesn’t orbit upright, but is instead tilted on its axis by 23-and-a-half degrees, Earth’s Northern and Southern Hemispheres trade places in receiving the sun’s light and warmth most directly. We have an equinox twice a year – spring and fall – when the tilt of the Earth’s axis and Earth’s orbit around the sun combine in such a way that the axis is inclined neither away from nor toward the sun," it added.

 

With shorter days, cooler weather - another thing Filipinos associate with the Christmas season - is expected, it added.  — ELR, GMA News