Astronomical autumn begins in Tajikistan

DUSHANBE, 23.09.2026 /Khovar/. Astronomical autumn began in Tajikistan today. The Institute of Astrophysics of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan told Khovar that the 2026 autumn equinox fell on 23 September at 00:05 UTC, equivalent to 05:05 in the morning in Dushanbe. This moment marks the start of astronomical autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and astronomical spring in the Southern Hemisphere.

At the autumn equinox, the centre of the Sun's disc crosses the celestial equator from north to south in its apparent annual motion. On the equinox day, day and night are almost equal in most parts of the Earth, although the interval between sunrise and sunset is usually a little longer than 12 hours. After the autumn equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, including Tajikistan, days become shorter and nights longer until the winter solstice.