March 19, 2008
Vernal Equinox
Return to Delbridge.net
Updated March 19, 2008
Please send me mail.
This year, Spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere during the early hours of March 20th, at 1:48 am to be more specific.
This is known as the Vernal Equinox when the hours of day and night are almost equal. From this point until the Summer Solstice, the daytime will be getting longer, until June 21st. After the solstice, the days become shorter until roughly September 21st, which is the second equinox of the year, the Autumnal Equinox. Of course from the Autumnal Equinox to the second solstice of the year, occuring around December 21st, the Winter Solstice, when winter begins, and, the shortest day of the year.
To wrap up, a solstice, happening twice a year (June, December) is either the longest or shortest days of the year. The equinox (March, September) are when the day and night are equal, which begins Spring or Autumn.
More specifically, the equinox is that moment in time (not a full day) when the center of the Sun can be observed to be directly above the Earth’s equator.
For those who like word origins, the term Equinox comes from Latin. Aequus means equal, and Nox means night. It refers to the point in time that the center of the Sun will spend a nearly equal amount of time above and below the horizon at every location on Earth.
Return to Pondered Thoughts Home Page
