Spring Equinox or the Vernal Equinox, which happens on March 20, 2011 at about 11:21 p.m. at Coordinate Universal Time (UTC), marks the first day of Spring season in the northern hemisphere, and autumn in the southern hemisphere. The Spring Equinox is also known as the March Equinox.
That is why the word "Equinox" is named as such because of its Latin etymology: "aequus" that means "equal" and "nox" which means "night" -- the time when the length of both night and day are almost the same.
Equinoxes actually happen twice a year. That means there are two instances in a year when night and day are about the same length. While the Spring Equinox or Vernal Equinox is the first day of spring, the Autumn Equinox or Autumnal Equinox signals day one of the autumn season.
For this year, Autumnal Equinox will be on September 22. 2011.
We learned from our elementary science that the earth goes around the sun on its axis termed as Rotation. The Spring Equinox or the Autumn Equinox happens when the axis rotation of the earth or the earth's North to South pole linear form is parallel to the movement of the earth around the sun. And when this occurs, it means that the length of day and night is approximately similar, or 12 hours at almost all parts of the world.
That is why the word "Equinox" is named as such because of its Latin etymology: "aequus" that means "equal" and "nox" which means "night" -- the time when the length of both night and day are almost the same.
Equinoxes actually happen twice a year. That means there are two instances in a year when night and day are about the same length. While the Spring Equinox or Vernal Equinox is the first day of spring, the Autumn Equinox or Autumnal Equinox signals day one of the autumn season.
For this year, Autumnal Equinox will be on September 22. 2011.
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