Equinoxes and solstices, 2026 to 2032

The year turns on four instants: two equinoxes, when the Sun's center crosses the celestial equator, and two solstices, when it stands farthest north or south. Each gets a full page here, with exact instants computed years ahead, the honest details almost nobody explains (the equilux, the earliest-sunset puzzle, the drifting dates), and a live panel that answers for your own sky.

The four turning points

Every instant, 2026 to 2032 (UTC)

Times are UTC, computed with the site's open-source ephemeris and stated to the minute. Your time zone can shift a calendar date by a day; each event page localizes its own table.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between an equinox and a solstice?

At an equinox the Sun's center crosses the celestial equator, day and night come closest to equal, and the Sun rises due east everywhere. At a solstice the Sun reaches its greatest distance north or south of the equator, giving the year's longest and shortest days. Each happens twice a year, four instants in all, and each is a moment, not a day.

Why are the four seasons not the same length?

Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical and the planet moves faster near perihelion in early January, so the September-to-March half of the cycle passes more quickly than the March-to-September half. Northern autumn and winter are a few days shorter than northern spring and summer.

Do the equinoxes and solstices fall on the same dates every year?

No. The tropical year runs about 365.2422 days, so each instant lands about 5 hours 49 minutes later every common year and jumps back about 18 hours at each leap day. That is why the March equinox ranges over March 19 to 21 and the December solstice over December 20 to 23 in Universal Time.

Keep exploring: how the tilt makes the seasons, the equation of time behind the sunrise puzzles, the tropical year our calendar is built around, and the axial precession that carries the equinox slowly westward against the stars over millennia.