Happy AEQUINOCTIUM!

In the North, which is where most of you readers are, it is the first day of Spring, the Vernal Equinox, today.  We are interested in this day in particular because we date Easter as the 1) first Sunday 2) after the first full Moon 3) on or after the Vernal Equinox.

An equinox (twice a year, in the Spring or in the Fall) is the exact moment when the plane of your planet’s equator passes through the geometric center of your yellow star’s disk.  The Sun’s “equator” is lined up with the Earth’s equator.

Aequinoctium in from aequus (equal) and nox (night).  At an equinox, daytime and nighttime are of approximately equal length.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the March equinox is called the vernal or spring equinox while the September equinox is called the autumnal or fall equinox. In the Southern Hemisphere, the reverse is true. The dates slightly vary due to leap years and other factors.

In the Roman Curia calendar says that the Equinox occurred at 2124 UTC.

And the Roman “Ave Maria” changed to 18:45!  I’ll soon be reporting those again…thanks to you readers… from Rome!

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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One Comment

  1. Venerator Sti Lot says:

    Thank you for this!

    It sent me checking to see if it was featured in Gregor Joseph Werner’s Neuer und sehr curios-Musicalischer Instrumental-Calender – and, there it was: a Minuet in honor of Il Giorno e la Notte eguali / Tag und Nacht gleich! (On YouTube – with the score to follow!)

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