Equinox Explained
At an equinox the sun stands over the equator, so day and night are nearly the same length everywhere. They are not exactly 12 hours, because the sun is a disc and the air bends its light, which pulls sunrise earlier and sunset later.
In 2026 the March equinox is 20 March at 14:46 UTC, and the September equinox is 23 September at 00:05 UTC. In the Americas that September instant still falls on the evening of 22 September. These are the astronomical times published by timeanddate.
North of the equator, March opens the long days and September closes them. South of the equator it is the other way around. Compare London with Cape Town, or Paris with Sydney.
Back to sunrise times. Related: the longest day.