![]() This year it will occur on Thursday (March 19) at 11:49:28 p.m. Sun overhead from the Emerald of the EquatorĪstronomers can calculate the moment of the vernal equinox right down to the nearest second. At the latitude of New York, for instance, day and night are roughly equal a few days before the equinox, on St. Summer time in Europe starts a few days after the vernal equinox.The supposed equality of day and night gives us the Latin name "equinox," which means "equal night." But in reality, thanks to our atmosphere, the day is longer than the night at the equinox. However, by convention Christian churches have fixed the ecclesiastical date to March 21 and base all calculations on this date even if the astronomical date differs. As decreed by the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs on or after the vernal equinox. The date of the vernal equinox is significant in Christianity as it is important for the calculation of Easter. At all other times the length of day and night will be different. On the day of an equinox, day and night are of approximately equal length all over the world, as the Earth's rotational axis is neither tilted away from nor towards the Sun. ![]() The word "equinox" is derived from Latin and means "equal night". In this way the time of the vernal equinox constantly shifts back and forth so it always stays on or around March 20. In a non-leap year, the moment of the vernal equinox is about 5 hours 49 minutes after that moment in the previous year (in UTC), and in a leap year it is about 18 hours 11 minutes before that moment in the previous year. The other days are the summer solstice (beginning of summer), the autumn equinox (beginning of autumn) and the winter solstice (beginning of winter). The vernal equinox is one of four days with solar events (two equinoxes and two solstices) throughout the year that mark the beginning of a new season. To find out the exact date and time of the vernal equinox 2024 in your area use this seasons calculator. For locations that are ahead of UTC (further east) it may fall on the day after, and for locations that are behind UTC (further west) it may fall on the day before. While the vernal equinox occurs at the same moment in time all over the world, the date and local time differ from place to place depending on the year and a location's time zone. The dates given on this page are based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which for practical purposes is equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT - the time zone of the United Kingdom). ![]() In the Northern Hemisphere the vernal equinox occurs every year between March 19 and March 21. ![]() For the Southern Hemisphere, it is the autumn equinox ( fall equinox) as it is the moment summer ends and autumn ( fall) begins. It is the moment winter ends and spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere (where nearly 90% of the world's population live). In the Northern Hemisphere, the moment in time when the Sun stands directly above the equator while crossing from the south to the north is called vernal equinox (also known as spring equinox, March equinox or northward equinox). The vernal equinox marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. ![]()
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