First Day Of Spring 2017

First Day Of Spring 2017.

The first day of spring or vernal equinox on 20^th March 2017 in the Northern Hemisphere is also the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. What it means is that the Sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night is approximately equal. The March equinox marks the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator – the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator – from south to north and vice versa in September. The March equinox may be taken to mark the beginning of spring and the end of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, but marks the beginning of autumn and the end of summer in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Abrahamic tradition, the Christian Churches calculate Easter as the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox. The official church definition for the equinox is 21 March. The Eastern Orthodox Churches use the older Julian calendar, while the western churches use the Gregorian calendar, and the western full moons currently fall four, five or 34 days before the eastern ones. The result is that the two Easters generally fall on different days but they sometimes coincide. The earliest possible Easter date in any year is 22 March on each calendar. The latest possible Easter date in any year is 25 April. The Jewish Passover usually falls on the first full moon after the northern hemisphere vernal equinox, although occasionally (currently three times every 19 years) it will occur on the second full moon.

Read Article Here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/first-day-spring-2017-interesting-facts-vernal-equinox/