Like winter? Sure, there’s skiing, snowboarding, and no-school snow days. But who doesn’t feel better, brighter, even lighter in the spring? Bring on the spring equinox!
There is a good reason people start to feel better after the end of winter – the first day of the spring season is March 20 when the hours of day and night have approximately the same length. Daylight shines for 12 hours on the spring equinox after those long, dark days of winter.
Vernal Equinox
The vernal equinox is another name for this wonderful first spring day. Equinox is derived from the Latin “aequus” meaning equal and “nox” meaning night. This equal day and night occurs because the sun is at a right angle to the Earth’s axis and the northern and southern hemispheres get the same exposure to the sun. However, as we rejoice in spring here in the northern hemisphere, the equinox marks the beginning of autumn in the southern hemisphere.
Think you know everything there is to know about the Earth and the sun? Check out how big the sun is compared to Earth!
What to Watch For
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons
You have probably noticed that as the spring equinox approaches, dawn occurs earlier and sunsets later – and if you are really observant, you may have seen that the arc of the sun is shifting toward the north each day. The butterflies and birds are migrating back northward along with the path of the sun. Worms emerge from the ground and ladybugs land on our screen doors. Trees and plants are budding and early spring flowers treat us to those wonderful colors we missed during winter. If only spring lasted forever… or maybe that is not such a good thing as reported in the article “Can We Control the Weather?” Let’s just enjoy this spring season!
Can Eggs Really Stand on End?
There is a legend that the spring equinox is the day that you can stand a raw egg on its end. The Farmer’s Almanac reports that several of its editors tried this experiment a few minutes before the start of the vernal equinox and during a full workday, 17 out of 24 eggs stood upright. They tried again three days later and found a similar result. Try your own test to find out the eggsact truth!
The Earth’s seasons certainly bring diversity to our lives and allow us to embrace the changes each season brings. The sunlight of the spring, however, beginning with the equinox on March 20, shines on us and chases away those cold winter days. Enjoy!
Sources:
earthsky.org
www.scholastic.com
farmersalmanac.com
Eric Weisstein’s World of Astronomy
U.S. Naval Observatory, “Earth’s Seasons: Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion and Aphelion”
[…] 20 marked the spring equinox, or the official start of spring, when the day and night are equal lengths. Even though it doesn’t feel like warmer weather is […]