Spring has arrived and we're now midway between mid-winter and mid-summer.
In the northern hemisphere, the spring equinox for 2024 occurred today, Wednesday 20th March at 3:06 AM GMT.
While meteorological spring commenced on 1st March, the spring equinox signifies the onset of astronomical spring.
During the spring equinox, the Sun crosses the celestial equator – an imaginary line in the sky above Earth’s equator – transitioning from the southern to the northern hemisphere.
This event results in nearly equal daylight and nighttime hours in both hemispheres, hence the term 'equinox,' derived from Latin for 'equal night.'
Despite this equal division, we experience slightly more daylight due to atmospheric refraction, which bends the Sun's rays.
