On Sep 9, 2:43*am, Chris Jones wrote:
I don't understand the subject line: *aren't the equinoxes in the spring
and fall, not summer?

No problem - an equinox for an astronomer is when the polar coordinate
turns to a position that is at a right angle to the central Sun,for a
magnification enthusiast it is something about the Sun crossing a Ra/
Dec convention,fine if that is all they can manage but exceptionally
poor when planetary dynamics is responsible for the equinoxes and
solstices.

Astronomy is not really a magnification exercise for the middle
class,it belongs to all humanity and especially students who never
learn so many of its principles,insights and methods and most of which
are within reach of teenagers and interested adults.The creation of
the calendar system using the annual return of a star and the great
flooding of the Nile is one such lesson in astronomy and from there on
to the great timekeeping system we use today in tandem with the daily
and orbital motions of the Earth.For some awful reason the entire
system is rejected for little more than a poor judgment and the
dominance of mathematicians who have a stranglehold on astronomy and
terrestrial sciences.