INLAND EMPIRE--The autumnal equinox arrived Monday at 8:44 A.M. and without it, earth would not have a summer or a winter.

An equinox is one of two times a year when the sun crosses the equator, day and night are of equal length.

Dr. Lorann Parker of the Mountain Skies Astronomical Society says if the earth’s axes were not tilted we would not have four seasons.

“The distance we are from the sun makes no difference it’s whether we face it, tilt it, or not,” she said.

The sun appears to cross the equator from north to south marking the beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

Story Date: September 24, 2008