September Equinox 2016

Such a wonderful use of imaging as dawn breaks at the South pole as the planet turns that latitude and all other latitudes in a circle to the stationary Sun -

http://www.usap.gov/videoclipsandmaps/spwebcam.cfm

For the first time the imaging showing the motion of the pole and indeed the entire continent of Antarctic across the sunlit face of the Earth due to the forward motion of the Earth through space is captured in all its wonderful glory -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFrP6QfbC2g

Watching the continent of Antarctica come into view and then disappear over the course of an orbit is just one of those lovely sights hidden from students and it is a shame nobody finds these technological marvels interesting enough to show the planet's dual surface rotations and dual day/night cycles in isolation and where they combine to create the seasons.

In contrast to the drudgery presently enveloping this forum is a unique dawn that happens once a year at the Southern polar location, a slow emergence of daylight that will end as the Sun appears in 3 weeks on the Equinox -

http://www.usap.gov/videoclipsandmaps/spwebcam.cfm

It is for those who haven't lost the sense of hope which arrives with each dawn as the planet turns to the Sun, in this case a separate surface rotation to join the daily event.

http://www.usap.gov/videoclipsandmaps/spwebcam.cfm

You all have been on a South pole journey the last 7 months as the Earth didn't tilt towards and away from the Sun but rather it turned slowly as a function of its orbital motion, brought the stars into view and a descent into polar night. Lit up occasionally by the moon and a special occasion when planetary Solstice and full moon coincided where the South pole is equidistant to the circle of illumination and the moon is furthest from the Sun.

Dawn comes to all and it may come to the noble discipline of astronomy from the gloomy darkness of error and pretense. In 3 weeks the Sun will appear while the Northern hemisphere enacts the opposite feature of polar night and the onset of winter where the dual surface rotations combine.

There are so many exciting perspectives involved from planetary dynamics to climate research, from better explanation to the seasons and why natural noon cycles vary being among the most obvious.