Editing Equinox (section)

==Effects on satellites==
One effect of equinoctial periods is the temporary disruption of [[communications satellite]]s. For all [[geostationary orbit|geostationary]] satellites, there are a few days around the equinox when the Sun goes [[transit (astronomy)|directly behind]] the satellite relative to Earth (i.e. within the beam-width of the ground-station antenna) for a short period each day. The Sun's immense power and broad radiation spectrum overload the Earth station's reception circuits with noise and, depending on antenna size and other factors, temporarily disrupt or degrade the circuit. The duration of those effects varies but can range from a few minutes to an hour. (For a given frequency band, a larger antenna has a narrower beam-width and hence experiences shorter duration "Sun outage" windows.)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.intelsat.com/tools-resources/library/satellite-101/satellite-sun-interference/ |title=Satellite Sun Interference |website=Intelsat |language=en-US |access-date=20 March 2019}}</ref>

Satellites in [[geostationary orbit]] also experience difficulties maintaining power during the equinox because they have to travel through [[Earth's shadow]] and rely only on battery power. Usually, a satellite travels either north or south of the Earth's shadow because Earth's axis is not directly perpendicular to a line from the Earth to the Sun at other times. During the equinox, since geostationary satellites are situated above the Equator, they are in Earth's shadow for the longest duration all year.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.viasat.com/blog/scn/how-satellites-are-affected-by-the-spring-and-autumn-equinoxes/ |title=How satellites are affected by the spring and autumn equinoxes |last=Abrahamian |first=David |date=17 April 2018 |website=[[Viasat (American company)|Viasat, Inc]] |language=en-US |access-date=20 March 2019}}</ref>