The vernal equinox On the first day of spring (vernal equinox) and the first day of fall, the sun is directly above at noon on the equator (autumnal equinox). As you move away from the equator, it takes longer for the sun to reach its highest point in the sky. At the poles, where it doesn't rise at all, the vernal equinox doesn't occur. At other times of the year, when the Earth is not at the same angle as the Sun, there will be local conditions that cause different parts of the planet to experience either spring or autumn. For example, in the southern hemisphere, where we would call summer, the sun rises about 65 degrees east of south, which means that at mid-summer it is still winter over much of Australia. South of 35 degrees east longitude, the sun never reaches 13th heaven; instead, it sets every night around midnight. The reason is that at those latitudes the atmosphere is very thick with clouds most of the time, so no part of Australia ever sees direct sunlight for more than a few hours each day. In northern Canada, where we would call winter, the reverse is true: the sun reaches its highest point in the sky at midday, even though it is in the middle of summer.