Vernal Equinox 2010: March 20 Spring Equinox Trivia

First Day Of Spring Is Around The Corner. Vernal Equinox 2010 Marks The Arrival Of Spring In Northern Hemisphere.

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Spring Equinox | Photo 02

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Equinox happens when the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor toward the Sun, which means the Sun is positioned vertically above the equator. This year the spring equinox will take place on Saturday, March 20, at 17:32 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to be exact.

That also means that day and night will be equally long on March 20. However, the spring equinox does not coincide with Daylight Savings Time, which has already taken affect in North America on March 14.

Interestingly, equinox does not just happen on Earth. It can happen on any planet within Solar System that has some tilt to its rotational axis.

For ages, equinox puzzled people. As the result, there is some interesting trivia associated with this natural phenomenon:

• Many of world cultures and religions have some observances tied to March equinox. The day begins Iranian calendar. It is a holiday in Azerbaijan, India, Afghanistan and some other countries in Middle East and Central Asia. The Jewish Passover usually falls on the first full moon after the Northern Hemisphere vernal equinox. The Christian churches calculate Easter as the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox. 
• There is an urban legend that one can balance an egg on its point on equinox.
  
• It is alleged that communication satellite outages happen around equinox. That claim is actually substantiated. It happens because Sun goes behind satellite relative to Earth for a short period during a few days near the equinox. The sun's radiation is so immense that Earth reception stations get overwhelmed and can cause disruptions in service.
  

The autumnal equinox fell on September 22 in 2009.

• First Day of Fall 2009: Autumnal Equinox 2009 on September 22
• Autumnal Equinox: Can We Balance Eggs Today?
• When Do the Clocks Go Forward in 2010? Spring Daylight Savings