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Happy Springtime (if you are in the North)

 
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Those of us north of the tropic of Cancer have already had over 1½ hours of Springtime here; it started today at 3:33pm (=15:33) GMT/UTC. If you are in the South, you will have started Autumn. The sun has risen on the North pole and will soon set on the South Pole.

I was young in the 20th century and we were taught that Spring started on 21st March. Which it usually did. It seems to get earlier when there is a leap year, but remember there was the “additional” leap year in 2000. 1700, 1800, and 1900 only had 365 days each. Since the true length of a year is slightly under 365¼ days, the equinoxes came slightly later in the year, and the 2000 leap year sorted that out. So the equinox has fallen on 20th March for the last few years, and I shall let somebody else find out when it will next fall on 21st March.
 
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Spoken by someone from a land which thinks "Midsummer" is in June!

No, It's Spring all the way down to the Equator. Spring is an Equinox, so it's predicated on the duration of sunlight ((lux/light) Equal nox (night)). The official beginning of Spring is, if I am correct, the moment when the Sun crosses the equator.

That shouldn't be mistaken for Sun-at-Azimuth (only possible in the tropics) or Sun-at-maximum North/South (extra-tropical).

The Old Country for me is located at 9° North Latitude. Because of that, there are 2 days each year when the Noon Sun is straight overhead. and neither of them are at equinox or solstice. Still, they don't have double seasons as weather patterns aren't that simple.

On the actual Tropic latitude circles, the "real" midsummer beginning of Summer - sorry! is at the Summer Solstice, so about June 21 and on that date the sun peaks directly overhead at the azimuth.

Here at 30° N, it gets close, but fails by about 7°. Up in England's Green and Pleasant, they don't even get close. Just bright bedtimes.

Of course, being the equinox, various henges, barrows and other constructs have all lit up for the occasion.
 
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Tim Holloway wrote:. . . . Up in England's Green and Pleasant, they don't even get close. Just bright bedtimes. . . .

In Midwinter, we have the sun only about 12° or 13° above the horizon at noon. It isn't quite as bad in the south.
 
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Campbell Ritchie wrote:

Tim Holloway wrote:. . . . Up in England's Green and Pleasant, they don't even get close. Just bright bedtimes. . . .

In Midwinter, we have the sun only about 12° or 13° above the horizon at noon. It isn't quite as bad in the south.



Conversely, it's hard on the Xmas spirit when you want to light all the candles and throw a log on the fire but the sky is still bright and the temperature in daytime is 15-20°. Life in Florida.
 
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