Spring

Today, at 7:02 AM EST, Winter ended and Spring Began.  The first day of Spring is also known as the Vernal (Spring) Equinox.  The word Equinox comes from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night).  On this date the sun is striking directly on the equator, resulting in approximately equal amounts of daylight and darkness around the globe. 


The Earth rotates around its axis approximately once every 24 hours.  However this axis is tilted at 23.5 degrees from the vertical.  The points on the globe that the axis revolves around are referred to as the North and South Poles.  The axis is always pointed toward the same location in the sky.  The North Pole points toward the "North Star" - Polaris.

As the earth revolves around the sun, sometimes the North Pole is closer to the sun, sometimes the South Pole is closer to the sun.  When the North Pole is at its closest, we experience Summer in Mid-Michigan and the Southern Hemisphere experiences Winter.  When the North Pole is at its furthest, we experience Winter and the Southern Hemisphere experiences Summer.

Today the North Pole and South Pole are both at the same distance from the sun.  We are passing into Spring and the Southern Hemisphere is passing into Fall.

Despite the weather, it is officially Spring so I thought I would share some Spring photos.