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Showing posts with the label march equinox

Celebrate the Vernal Equinox and the Start of Spring

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The spring equinox (also called the March equinox or vernal equinox) falls on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at 5:58 P.M. EDT. This event marks the astronomical first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.  Full Moon: For the first time in nearly 40 years, the spring equinox will occur on the same day as March’s Full Worm Moon. The last time that these two events landed on the same date was on March 20, 1981, though they did come close again in March 2000, separated by a span of only four hours. But that’s not all: March’s full Moon will also be a supermoon, meaning that it will be slightly larger and brighter than most of the other full Moons this year. What Does Equinox Mean? The word equinox comes from the Latin words for “equal night”—aequus (equal) and nox (night). On the equinox, the length of day and night is nearly equal in all parts of the world. With the equinox, enjoy the increasing sunlight hours, with earlier dawns and later sunsets.  Q: I...

Spring: Facts, Folklore, and More

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WHEN IS THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING? The spring equinox always occurs on either March 20 or 21.  WHAT DOES THE MARCH EQUINOX MEAN? The word equinox comes from Latin words which literally means “equal night”—aequus (equal) and nox (night). On the equinox, the length of day and night is nearly equal in all parts of the world. With the equinox, enjoy the increasing sunlight hours, with earlier dawns and later sunsets.  Q: ACCORDING TO FOLKLORE, YOU CAN STAND A RAW EGG ON END ON THE EQUINOX. IS THIS TRUE? A: Folklore or not, this egg trick sounded like fun to us. One spring, a few minutes before the vernal equinox, several Almanac editors tried this trick. For a full workday, 17 out of 24 eggs stood standing. Three days later, we tried this trick again and found similar results. Perhaps 3 days after the equinox was still too near. Perhaps the equinox has nothing to do with it. Perhaps we just don’t like to take ourselves too seriously! Try this yourself a...