An equinox occurs when the celestial equator and the ecliptic (the ecliptic is the path the sun appears to take through the constellations of the zodiac) meet. This occurs twice a year, once in the spring, and once in the autumn. On both occasions, night and day are of equal length.

Every 26,000 years, the earth completes a 'precession cycle.' During each of these periods, the earth's axis wobbles in relation to the celestial equator, and changes the constellation that appears on the ecliptic on the vernal (spring) equinox. This movement is referred to as the precession of the equinoxes (or the equinox of the Gods).

The sphere of the ecliptic and the celestial equator

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