1910–1911
Britannica 11th
Encyclopaedia Britannica · 11th edition
EQUINOX (from the Lat. aequus, equal, and nox, night), a term used to express either the moment at which, or the point at which, the sun apparently crosses the celestial equator. Since the sun moves in the ecliptic, it is in the last-named sense the point of intersection of the ecliptic and the celestial equator. This is the usual meaning of the term in astronomy. There are EQUITES two such points, opposite each other, at one of which the sun crosses the equator toward the north and at the other toward the south. T…
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- Vol. 9, pp. 723-724