¿ Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2020 September 22 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Equinox in the Sky Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Luca Vanzella Explanation: Does the Sun set in the same direction every day? No, the direction of sunset depends on the time of the year. Although the Sun always sets approximately toward the west, on an [4]equinox like today the Sun sets directly [5]toward the west. After today's September equinox, the Sun will set increasingly toward the southwest, reaching its maximum displacement at the December [6]solstice. Before today's September equinox, [7]the Sun had set toward the northwest, reaching its maximum displacement at the June solstice. The featured time-lapse image shows [8]seven bands of the Sun setting one day each month from 2019 December through 2020 June. These image sequences were taken from [9]Alberta, [10]Canada -- well north of the Earth's equator -- and feature the city of [11]Edmonton in the foreground. The [12]middle band shows the Sun setting during the last equinox -- in March. From [13]this location, the Sun will set along this same [14]equinox band again today. Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [15]< | [16]Archive | [17]Submissions | [18]Index | [19]Search | [20]Calendar | [21]RSS | [22]Education | [23]About APOD | [24]Discuss | [25]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell ([29]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [30]Specific rights apply. [31]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [32]ASD at [33]NASA / [34]GSFC & [35]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2009/SunsetMonths_Vanzella_2400.jpg 3. mailto:%20luca%20at%20vanzella%20dot%20com 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160320.html 6. https://scijinks.gov/solstice/ 7. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/by-the-numbers/ 8. https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy80MTY0OTM1L29yaWdpbi5qcGciLCJleHBpcmVzX2F0IjoxNjU2MzkwNjUzfQ.oEzGneq4AlUBqfkKM3hSug_FIsNxZmOoXkX9emNOF2g/img.jpg?width=980 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada 11. https://youtu.be/sOiBfm_fuu4 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200212.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160922.html 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox_(Bulgarian_band) 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200921.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 24. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200922 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200923.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 32. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 35. http://www.mtu.edu/