The first day of spring also marks the beginning of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. It is also probably no coincidence that early Egyptians built the Great Sphinx so that it points directly toward the rising Sun on the day of the vernal equinox.
#Equinox fall spring full
The date is significant in Christianity because Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Many early peoples celebrated for the basic reason that their food supplies would soon be restored. There is no shortage of rituals and traditions surrounding the coming of spring. Modern astronomy aside, people have recognized the vernal equinox for thousands of years. If the Earth rotated on an axis perpendicular to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, there would be no variation in day lengths or temperatures throughout the year, and we would not have seasons. In the winter, when we are tilted away from the Sun, the rays pass through the atmosphere at a greater slant, bringing lower temperatures. Lets learn about the Spring Equinox The Spring Equinox is the day that the sun shines directly on the equator. Because of the tilt, we receive the Sun's rays most directly in the summer. These brief but monumental moments owe their significance to the 23.4 degree tilt of the Earth's axis. This date will mark the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the vernal equinox in the Southern ( vernal denotes "spring"). A second equinox occurs each year on Sept. Translated literally, equinox means "equal night." Because the Sun is positioned above the equator, day and night are about equal in length all over the world during the equinoxes.
For the Southern Hemisphere, this is the moment of the autumnal equinox. This moment is known as the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. EDT, the Sun will cross directly over the Earth's equator. What Happens at the Equinox?įar from being an arbitrary indicator of the changing seasons, March 20 (March 21 in some years) is significant for astronomical reasons. As we welcome spring, people south of the equator are actually gearing up for the cooler temperatures of autumn. March 20, 2016, is a date that most of us recognize as symbolic of changing seasons.
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