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The March equinox [7] [8] or northward equinox [9] is the equinox on the Earth when the subsolar point appears to leave the Southern Hemisphere and cross the celestial equator, heading northward as seen from Earth.
In other words, the equinoxes are the only times when the subsolar point is on the equator, meaning that the Sun is exactly overhead at a point on the equatorial line. The subsolar point crosses the equator moving northward at the March equinox and southward at the September equinox.
The seasons (with the transition points of the June solstice, September equinox, December solstice, and March equinox) and Earth's orbit characteristics. For an observer at the North Pole, the Sun reaches the highest position in the sky once a year in June. The day this occurs is called the June solstice day.
The subsolar point on a planet or a moon is the point at which its Sun is perceived to be directly overhead (at the zenith); [1] that is, where the Sun's rays strike the planet exactly perpendicular to its surface. The subsolar point occurs at the location on a planet or a moon where the Sun culminates at the location's zenith. This occurs at ...
Given the different Sun incidence in different positions in the orbit, it is necessary to define a standard point of the orbit of the planet, to define the planet position in the orbit at each moment of the year w.r.t such point; this point is called with several names: vernal equinox, spring equinox, March equinox, all equivalent, and named considering northern hemisphere seasons.
The Met Office explains the difference between meteorological spring and astronomical spring
In 2024, the spring equinox happens on March 19 at 11:06 p.m. EDT. But while the vernal equinox takes place the evening of March 19 in the United States, it will already be March 20 for most of ...
The Sun, in its apparent motion along the ecliptic, crosses the celestial equator at these points, one from south to north, the other from north to south. [6] The crossing from south to north is known as the March equinox, also known as the first point of Aries and the ascending node of the ecliptic on the celestial equator. [10]