PA ImagesIf you’re anything like me, and feel like we’ve been living in an eternity of dark mornings and dark nights through this long and cold winter, I have some good news for you.
This year’s first equinox – which will see the sun cross the celestial equator, meaning day and night are of equal length – is set to happen extra early this year.
On March 19, for a brief moment, the Earth’s axis will be oriented perfectly perpendicular on the sun’s rays, marking the transition of one season to another.
PexelsThis year marks the first time the equinox has occurred so early since 1896, as is usually falls around March 21.
As a result, it looks like we’re saying goodbye to winter two days early this year, which means we’ll all be back in the beer gardens with a pint in each hand before we know it.
According to scientists, the equinox will now get earlier and earlier for the next four years. That’s because, unlike the solstices where in summer days are longer than nights and in winter nights are longer than days, the equinoxes represent the moment that’s exactly in between. This is where both hemispheres receive sunlight in equal amounts.
PexelsEven when the Earth orbits on its axis and revolves around the sun, it always returns to the same relative position and orientation in our orbit.
Sadly, this doesn’t fully line up with the calendar, but that’s because there aren’t exactly an even number of days in the year.
But hey, who cares? Spring is just around the corner, which means we’re one step closer to summer!
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.