Can you really make an egg stand on its end in Seattle on the first day of autumn?

“EGG”-citing News! Did you know with the equinox coming up, you can stand up an egg on its end?

The Autumnal Equinox in Seattle is Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 5:05 p.m. PDT. Aside from the moment of equal 12-hour daylight across the globe, it’s also, according to legend, one of the two exact moments of the equinox that you can stand an egg up on its end! How cool is that??! Set your alarms!

It’s also: Totally not true!

Or at least, a bit misleading. The reality is: you can stand up an egg on any day of the year — your birthday, National Doughnut Day, Seahawks schedule release day… you name it.

The legend apparently got its start eons ago when some people thought not only was daylight equal on the equinox, but the Earth’s gravity was in some sort of equal balance that would make the egg trick possible.

But the equinox dates are simply just the part in our yearly orbit around the sun when Earth’s axis tilt is vertically aligned with the sun. It’s affects only our length of daylight. The moon causes way more varying effects on our gravitational pulls — that’s how we have tides.

But find a good egg, a flat surface and some patience and you can try it too!

“Take a fresh, uncooked egg and hold it with the larger end resting on a table or countertop. Wait for the fluid content of the egg to settle, then carefully test the balance,” the NWS said. “Be patient as you find the point where you can ever so gently let it go to remain standing on end.”

For the record, the photo attached here was mine on my third egg attempt, a full 24 hours before the official autumnal equinox time. 

One thing I learned — if you do try this on a surface with some height, make sure there’s some sort of buffer to capture the egg if it rolls over so that it doesn’t go all Humpty Dumpty on you :O