Today:
Hallowe’en’s connection to astronomy comes from its position on the calendar, halfway between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice. This mid-point, known as a “cross-quarter day”, began the “dark” half of the year for Celtic people, ending on another season’s mid-point, May 1st, or May Day.
Saturday:
Today marks the latest sunrise of the year. But wait, doesn’t that happen in December near the Winter Solstice? That would be true, except the date for changing from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time now occurs so late, that our sunrise is two minutes later today, than in late December.
Sunday:
Standard Time has returned, but what does that mean? The idea of a “standard” time, and time zones, replaced the Sun as the method for determining noon. Local noon is when the Sun is directly south, but when trains made long distance travel possible in the 1800s, train schedules required standardized, rather than local time.