![]() If you’re a sky watcher, the website EarthSky points out the equinoxes - spring or autumn - are a superb time to orient yourself. We got that truly equal day/night split a few days before the official spring equinox. This bending of light rays “causes the sun to appear above the horizon when the actual position of the sun is below the horizon.” The day is a bit longer at higher latitudes than at the equator because it takes the sun longer to rise and set the closer you get to the poles. How does that happen when it’s supposed to be 12 hours of day and 12 hours night? As the US National Weather Service explains, the “nearly” equal hours of day and night are because of the complex way a sunrise is measured and the refraction of sunlight in our atmosphere. It turns out you actually get a little more daylight than darkness on the equinox - and how much so depends where you are on the planet. That’s why it gets increasingly hot as we head toward the summer solstice in June.īy the way, the equinoxes aren’t exactly ‘equal’ And now here we are at the spring equinox! Going forward, the Northern Hemisphere will be more exposed to the sun than the Southern Hemisphere. (That’s why it stays dark for so long each day during the winter in places such as Scandinavia and Alaska.)īut since the winter solstice three months ago in December, you’ve noticed that our days have been getting longer in the Northern Hemisphere and the nights shorter. Those are the solstices, and they have the most extreme differences between day and night, especially near the poles. ![]() The effect is at its maximum in late June and late December. This discrepancy in sunlight is what triggers the seasons. That positions one hemisphere of the planet to get more sunlight than the other for half of the year’s orbit around the sun. However, the axis tilts at 23.5 degrees, as NASA explains. It’s called the axis, and this rotation is what gives us day and night. The Earth rotates along an imaginary line that runs from North Pole to South Pole. They get roughly 12 hours of daylight and nighttime year round. ![]() So for Argentinians, South Africans and Australians, among others, this is a time to look forward to cooler weather and the joys of autumn.įor people who reside near the equator (in places such as Quito, Ecuador, or Singapore), none of this is a big deal. ![]() However, in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the opposite, the March equinox marks the start of autumn, as this part of Earth start to tilt away from the Earth.While folks in the Northern Hemisphere are looking forward to longer days, warmer weather, flowers and a burst of greenery, people living south of the equator are heading into fall. After the conclusion of Spring Equinox, the Northern Hemisphere begins to be tilted more toward the Sun, resulting in increasing daylight hours and warming temperatures. Meanwhile, you have arrived at the right page, if you are looking for Happy March Equinox 2021 HD images, First Da of Spring wallpapers, Happy Spring SMS, WhatsApp stickers and GIF messages to celebrate the official start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.Įquinox is a Latin word that means “equal night”,and mark the only two points in the year when the equator is the closest part of Earth to the sun, with both the northern and southern hemispheres sharing sunlight equally. As per the Gregorian calendar, the Northward equinox can occur as early as 19 March or as late as 21 March at Greenwich. This event is also known as Vernal Equinox when the subsolar point appears to leave the Southern Hemisphere and cross the celestial equator, heading northward as seen from Earth. Spring Equinox or March Equinox will be celebrated this year on March 20.
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