Spring Equinox
The Spring Equinox
What Does This Mean?
The Spring or Vernal Equinox occurs around 20th or 21st March in the Northern Hemisphere and marks the beginning of Spring. As this year is a Leap Year it will be on 19th March and as we all know the days become longer and the nights get shorter. But what is it?? It actually marks the moment when the Sun is directly over the Earth’s equator as it heads northward, and the Sun’s rays are equal in the North and Southern Hemisphere and night and day will be roughly the same length.
Equinox is from the Latin word aequus, meaning equal or even and nox means night. This celestial event determines the date of Easter, as Easter Sunday is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.