March 20, it’s spring! And it’s been 120 years that the equinox has not arrived as early – Atlantico.fr

Spring officially begins the weekend

The days are getting longer, the plants grow back, and love sometimes blooms … But this year is a bit special because spring is coming earlier than usual.

The Spring starts on the day of the equinox, that is to say, the day the sun (from our perspective) crosses the equator. There are two equinoxes: the March equinox, which marks the beginning of spring, and the September equinox, which marks the beginning of autumn. But this year the Sun crosses the equator very early on March 20, at four in the morning (Coordinated Universal Time, or five hours French time), not March 21 as is traditionally celebrated.

What is it due? As we know, our Gregorian calendar is supposed to follow the rotation cycles of the earth and the earth around the sun, but not exactly. That is why we have leap years: the earth does not revolve around the sun in exactly 365 days, but 365 days and a quarter, so we must catch up one day every four years. And yet, it’s more complicated than that, as it is not exactly 365.25 days per year, years that end in 00 are not to be leap years except those divisible by 400, which explains that 2000 was a leap year.

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As explained EarthSky website, this means that the equinox occurs earlier in the 21st century than 20th. Our Earth calendar took a little “late” compared to the celestial movements, and thus for decades the Spring arrives earlier than expected. Not bad news, right?

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