Spring Equinox this Thursday
The equinox will occur tomorrow (Thursday) morning at 9.01am, marking the arrival of the astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of autumn south of the equator.
The spring or ‘vernal’ equinox occurs when the sun appears to be directly over the Earth’s equator.
Despite popular belief, the equinox does not mark an equal balance of day and night even though the word comes from Latin, where equi means “equal” and nox means “night.”
Daylight tomorrow will last 12 hours and 10 minutes, with the spring equilux on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) marking a perfect balance of day and night hours.
It is believed that the close proximity of the spring equinox to St. Patrick’s Day is due to a merging of ancient Celtic traditions with more modern Catholic rituals.
5000 years ago, the builders of the Lough Crew cairns on Sliabh na Caillighe in Wicklow aligned their tombs to sunrise at the equinox.
Meanwhile, clocks go forward by one hour at 1am on the last Sunday of March, which this year falls on March 30th.
