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This happens every March 20 or 21, signaling the return of the sun, warmer temperatures, blooming flowers and birds, bees and butterflies to the northern hemisphere. Or, for those of Down Under, it heralds the arrival of fall. But what exactly is the spring equinox?
Is it an astronomical event? Holidays once marked by the elders? In fact, it is both. And don’t be fooled by the name – just because those above the equator call it the Spring Equinox, doesn’t mean it corresponds to the meteorological start of the season. The latter is not based on celestial occurrences, but rather on the annual temperature cycle and 12-month calendar. This year it fell on March 1.
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Because our planet is tilted on an axis, when it rotates around the sun, the hemispheres essentially reverse the periods in which they receive sunlight and heat most directly. The spring equinox, which takes place this year on March 20 at 5:37 a.m. EDT, marks the time when the sun is directly above the Earth’s equator as it moves north. The two hemispheres share the sun’s rays equally at the equinox, and night and day are roughly the same length. In fact, the term equinox evolved from equal, the Latin word meaning equal, and nox, the word for night.
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In addition to the September equinox, known to residents of the northern hemisphere as the fall equinox, the solstices also signify the start of new seasons. Occurring around June 21 and December, they mark the longest and shortest days of the year based on sunlight, and are reversed above and below the equator, like the equinoxes. . Early civilizations found the Spring Equinox and these other celestial events a reliable way to track the seasons, and many cultures today continue to pay homage to them, just as their ancestors did.
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At the famous British site of Stonehenge, as many as 1,000 druids and pagans still gather each year on the spring equinox to watch dawn rise over the prehistoric monument. In El Castillo, Mexico, among the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, even more gather on the same date to see the sun cast shadows that resemble a snake sliding down the steps of the pyramid. And the Persian New Year, known as Nowruz, is still observed by millions on the spring equinox.
It seems that while humanity now has modern calendars to track our seasons in the sun, where our planet rotates in relation to this large, bright star in the sky remains a method worth remembering.
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