Neil deGrasse Tyson explains the Vernal Equinox

Happy Vernal Equinox! As CNN reported, the equinox happened at "9:37 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) March 20. For people in places such as Montreal and Miami, that's 5:37 a.m. local time. Out in San Diego and Vancouver, that means it arrives at 2:37 a.m." That means it's been astronomical spring since before the sun rose here in metro Detroit, so happy spring!

To describe the science for today, I turn to Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice on StarTalk for Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains the Equinox.

What’s going on with the equinox? In this explainer, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice honor the equinox, breaking down why we have it and how it works.

What makes the two equinoxes special days of the year? You’ll learn the difference between spring versus fall equinox and what they mean in context with the summer and winter solstices. How does the equinox differ for different parts of the world? Is the equinox the same in Alaska as it is in Brazil?

Discover the reason why the equinox isn’t actually equal night and day. How does our own atmosphere impact our hours of sunlight? What is our definition of sunrise and sunset? Is there a real equinox we don’t celebrate? But most of all… where can we get that StarTalk sweatshirt???

Thank you, Dr. Tyson!

I conclude today's post, which is also the last entry of the tenth year of this blog, with today's Google doodle.


See you tomorrow for Nowruz and the blog's tenth birthday!