The Southern Hemisphere’s spring equinox will occur this weekend and that means more sunshine on the forecast for Australia.

The spring equinox refers to the moment the sun appears to pass directly over Earth’s equator. This causes day and night to be roughly equal in length for most places on Earth around the date of the equinox.

Image: Orientation of the Sun and Earth on the date of the spring equinox.

Following the equinox in September, the Southern Hemisphere starts to become more tilted towards the Sun and the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the Sun. This causes days to get longer and nights to get shorter across the Southern Hemisphere.

While Australia’s meteorological spring started on September 1, the astronomical spring for the Southern Hemisphere begins on the date of the equinox. The reason for this difference is due to the meteorological season more closely matching the annual temperature cycles experienced most populated areas on Earth.

Image: The difference between Earth’s astronomical and meteorological seasons. Source: NOAA Office of Education/Kaleigh Ballantine

This year’s Southern Hemisphere spring equinox will occur at 10:44pm AEST on Sunday, September 22.

Australia will now have more daylight than darkness for the next six months, until the autumnal equinox on March 20, 2025.