Google tells us… “An equinox is a time when the sun crosses the celestial equator, resulting in roughly equal periods of daylight and darkness across the planet. This occurs twice a year, around March and September, marking the start of spring (vernal equinox) and autumn (autumnal equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere.”
So, day and night are as equal in time as they can be. Wikipedia tries to be a little more precise… “More precisely, an equinox is traditionally defined as the time when the plane of Earth’s equator passes through the geometric center of the Sun’s disk.”
Let’s see if we can uncomplicate it and learn a little from the National Weather Service [LINK]:
The Vernal Equinox
“There are only two times of the year when the Earth’s axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, resulting in a “nearly” equal amount of daylight and darkness at all latitudes. These events are referred to as Equinoxes. The word equinox is derived from two Latin words – aequus (equal) and nox (night). At the equator, the sun is directly overhead at noon on these two equinoxes. The “nearly” equal hours of day and night are due to refraction of sunlight or a bending of the light’s rays that causes the sun to appear above the horizon when the actual position of the sun is below the horizon. Additionally, the days become a little longer at the higher latitudes (those at a distance from the equator) because it takes the sun longer to rise and set. Therefore, on the equinox and for several days before and after the equinox, the length of day will range from about 12 hours and six and one-half minutes at the equator, to 12 hours and 8 minutes at 30 degrees latitude, to 12 hours and 16 minutes at 60 degrees latitude.”
Okay, that helps a little. It’s somewhat of a relief to know we’re going to have equal night and day hours on the 20th of March! Maybe there’s something to be gained from this balance.
Lent and Ramadan
We’ve been wondering if Lent and Ramadan have a relationship with the Equinox. It turns out that the timing of Lent is based on the Vernal Equinox but Ramadan uses a different calendar, following the lunar cycle, so the dates of Ramadan change every year. This year Lent began on Ash Wednesday, which was March 5th. Ramadan, started in March and is being celebrated at the same time. Both of these celebrations include fasting and spiritual reflection.
Lent is a 40-day period of fasting and penance in the Christian tradition, leading up to Easter, which is celebrated on April 20th.
Ramadan is a month-long period of fasting from dawn to sunset, following the lunar calendar. During Ramadan Muslims fast and engage in prayer.
In any case, we can conclude that the Vernal Equinox this year is a spiritual time for many millions of people. We wish them success in their fasting and prayer. We pray with them for Peace on Earth.
The Worst Winter Storm
Let’s conclude with a search for the ‘worst’ winter storm in the US. We searched and found a possible answer at Climate dot Gov: “On January 22, Baton Rouge, LA, made it to 7 degrees, which is the airport’s coldest temperature since records began in 1930. (Earlier, pre-airport, data from Baton Rouge showed a two-day cold snap in 1899 when the temperature dropped to 2 degrees on February 13 and 7 degrees on February 14.) Lafayette, LA, was even colder at 4 degrees, a record low since records began in 1893. Finally, New Iberia, LA, saw 2 degrees, making it the site’s record-coldest temperature since its creation in 1948.”
Happy Springtime to All!
We wish all of our readers a very enjoyable equinox where all of us humans can take note of the sunrise and sunset. For one day our beautiful Earth’s axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun! Let’s look at it as a moment of peace and balance. We made it through Winter and we are on the way to some new Life and Growth. Happy Springtime to All!
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