Hitchin basked in a glorious sunset on Tuesday evening, as you can see by our main picture.

The stunning shot of Oughtonhead was taken by Hitchin resident and Nub News reader Danny Pearson.

The wonderful image also marked the last sunset of summer, as today (Wednesday, September 22) is the autumn equinox.

Google has even marked the start of the autumn equinox with a new image of a frolicking hedgehog covered in autumn leaves.

The equinox means 'equal night'. However, daytime and night are not actually equal because although the centre of the sun sets 12 hours after it rises, the day begins when the upper edge of the sun reaches the horizon. Therefore, in other words, days are still slightly longer.

The equinox doesn't always fall on the same day either.

The autumn equinox usually falls on September 22 or 23 but in 1931, it fell on 24 September.

This is because the Gregorian calendar is not always equal - because the planet takes 365.25 days to orbit around the sun, meaning the equinox is sometimes delayed a day. The next time it will fall on 24 September will be in 2303.

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