It's the Autumnal Equinox, the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere. An equinox happens twice a year, in March and September, when the Earth's axis and orbit align. The sun is positioned directly over the equator, giving both the northern and southern hemispheres an almost equal amount of daylight and darkness.

If this is the beginning of your favorite season, you're not alone. The aurora borealis, aka the northern lights, loves a good equinox. Around the autumnal and vernal equinoxes, there is an increase in auroral activity.

For most of the year, the Earth's and Sun's magnetic fields are misaligned, leaving our planet's magnetic field less open to the aurora, causing effects of the solar wind. However, at the equinox, the two magnetic fields line up but point in opposite dire

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