Spring begins on March 19 – the earliest it has ever arrived in 124 years – which means warmer weather and longer days just around the corner. To celebrate the spring equinox, here are a few facts about the event.
1. The spring equinox arrives at 11:49 pm Eastern Time.
March 19, 2020 is the first day of spring, but the spring equinox will only be here for a short time. At 11:49 pm Eastern Time, the sun is perfectly equatorial, resulting in the northern and southern hemispheres receiving the same amount of sunlight through the equator. Latha. After the vernal equinox has passed, days will begin to shorten for the Southern Hemisphere and further up north.
2. The Equinox is not the only time you can balance an egg.
You may have heard the rumor that you can balance an egg at its end during the vernal equinox, and you may have even tried the test in school. The idea is that the extra gravity pull from the Sun when it is above the equator helps the egg to stand up straight. While it is possible to balance an egg, the trick has nothing to do with the equinox: You can stand an egg on its head by placing it on a rough surface any day of the year.
3. Not all places have the same night and day.
The night-and-day divide between the northern and southern hemispheres is not evenly distributed across all parts of the world. While all areas receive about 12 hours of sunlight on the day of the vernal equinox, some areas receive a little more (the day is about 12 hours and 14 minutes in Fairbanks, Alaska), and some get less.
4. The word equinox meaning “equal night.”
The word equinox literally translated to equal (“equi”) and night (“nox”) in Latin. The term vernal means “new and new,” and comes from the Latin word vernus for “the spring.”
5. In 2020, spring arrives earlier than it did in 124 years.
If March 19th seems a little early for the first day of spring, you’re right. March 21 is usually marked by the first day of spring (although it arrived on March 20 in 2019). But the 2020 normal income just before midnight means this is the earliest spring to have arrived in time – 124 years to be exact.
According to the Farmers’ Almanac, there are several factors that affect the date of the arrival of spring: the number of days in a year, a change in direction in the elliptical orbit of the Earth, and the gravity draw from the other planets.