Equinox translates literally to equal night.
On Wednesday, March 20, 2019, the sun crosses directly over
the Earth's equator. That moment is
known as the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere announcing the arrival
of spring and the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere announcing the
arrival of fall. A second equinox will
occur on September 23, 2019.
The fact that the Earth has distinctive seasons is due to
the 23.4 degree tilt of the Earth's axis.
The Earth receives more sunlight (longer daylight hours) in the summer
and less sunlight (fewer daylight hours) in the winter. The tilt of the axis makes the seasons
opposite in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. At the north pole summer gives six months of
daylight while at the same time the south pole is experiencing six months of
darkness. The closer you are to the
equator, the daily hours of daylight and darkness become more equal.
The fall and spring equinoxes are the only two times during
the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west. Modern astronomy aside, people have
recognized the astronomical connection to the season changes for thousands of
years. The ancients of various
civilizations all over the world built structures that illustrate this—temples
dedicated to their various gods that modern man recognize as observatories. Not only the spring and fall equinox days,
but also the summer and winter solstice days.
I think it's also interesting to note a connection between
the spring equinox and Groundhog Day (another holiday derived from the
practices and celebrations of the ancients).
If the groundhog sees his shadow on February 2, we have six more weeks
of winter. And by coincidence that six weeks takes us to within a few days of the
spring equinox.
A little bit of equinox trivia: According to folklore, you can stand a raw
egg on its end on the equinox. At spring one year, a few minutes before the
vernal equinox, twenty-four almanac editors tested the theory. For a full work day, seventeen out of
twenty-four eggs stood up on the large end.
Then three days following the equinox, they tried the same test
again. And guess what? The results were similar. Perhaps the second test was still too close
to the equinox? :)
2 comments:
Interesting regarding the eggs, Shawna! Enjoyed the post. Happy Spring!
Mary: I thought the egg thing was interesting when I first read it. It looks like Spring is only here for part of the country--still snow out there. Where I am, the temperature got up into the 60s yesterday and it rained last night but the sun is out now.
Thanks for your comment.
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