March Equinox 2020 FAQs: 'What Happens During the Equinox?' to 'Why Is It Called the Equinox?' Top 5 Queries on the Celestial Event Answered

March Equinox also known as the Spring Equinox will take place on March 19. March Equinox is an indicator of the beginning of Spring and the end of Winter in the Northern Hemisphere. While it generally occurs on March 20 or 21, this year, Spring will arrive a bit early in the US. Last year, the equinox occurred on March 19 in the year 1896. It also marks the beginning of autumn and the end of summer for those in the Southern Hemisphere. As March Equinox is here, there are various questions being asked about it. And we have compiled a list of March Equinox FAQs that will answer your queries about the event. Spring Equinox 2020 Date, The Earliest First Day of Spring in 124 Years; Know Everything About This Vernal March Equinox.

The exact moment of the equinox will occur Thursday night at 11:49 p.m. EDT (0349 GMT on March 20), according to the astronomy reference book.  It is when both the hemispheres of the planet will receive the same amount of daylight. The equinox marks the official start of spring, regardless of the weather outside.

What Happens During the Equinox?

As per the Earth-centred view, the celestial equator is a circle dividing Earth’s sky into northern and southern hemispheres. The celestial equator engulfs the sky directly above Earth’s equator. And at the equinox, the sun crosses the celestial equator and enter the sky’s Northern Hemisphere.

What Is Equinox in Science?

Equinox is the time when the Sun crosses the plane of the Earth's equator, making night and day of approximately equal length all over the Earth.

What Are Equinox and Solstice?

The days are longer around the summer solstice and shorter around the winter solstice. When the Sun's path crosses the equator, the length of the nights at latitudes are of equal length. This is known as an equinox. There are two solstices and two equinoxes in a tropical year. The biggest difference between the equinox and the solstice is that a solstice is a point during the Earth's orbit around the sun at which the sun is at its greatest distance from the equator, while during an equinox, it's at the closest distance from the equator.

Why Is It Called the Equinox?

Equinox descends from aequus, the Latin word for "equal," and nox, the Latin word for "night". On the equinox, night and day are nearly the same length all over the world although they don't get exact 12 hours of daylight. This is the reason it’s called an "equinox".

2020 being a Leap year is another reason for the March Equinox happening about 18 hours prior to the date last year. Equinox will get earlier every four years. The orbit of the planet changes in its orientation and hence the Earth's axis points is in a different direction. The gravitational pull from other planets also affects the location of Earth in the orbit.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 18, 2020 01:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).