Comprehensive coverage

Today is the first day of spring

Did you not notice, but at 07:14 Israel time an astronomical event occurred - the point in time when the sun crossed the celestial equator on the day of the spring equinox

The Great Pyramid at Chichen Itzat in Mexico on the Vernal Equinox. From Wikipedia
The Great Pyramid at Chichen Itzat in Mexico on the Vernal Equinox. From Wikipedia

Update for March 20, 2014. This year the exact point of the equinox will be at 18:57 Israel time.

The article is from 2012

There is also a slight erosion in the sky, it is common to think that March 21 is the equinox, but in fact, the sun crosses the equator, the point where day and night are equal today, March 20 at 07:14 am Israel time. At least according to the Farmers' Almanac in the USA. This date is called the Vernal Equinox

The term Vernal comes from the Latin word meaning blossom and refers to the fact that this day marked the end of winter and the beginning of spring in the Roman Empire. Of course, this term is associated with the North - that is, in accordance with living in the Northern Hemisphere, because in the Southern Hemisphere it is the Autumnal Equinox. The meaning of the word equinox in Latin is "equal night". The autumn and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year when the time of light and the time of darkness are equal in length, when the sun crosses the celestial equator.
At the equinoxes, the Earth's inclination relative to the Sun is zero, and this means that the Earth's axis does not point towards or away from the Sun. This is despite the fact that the earth's inclination towards the plane of its rotation around the sun or the plane of the whip is always about 23.5 degrees.

 

Mayan spring sacrifices
The equinoxes and the shortest and longest days of the year have been celebrated in various cultures around the world since the beginning of written history. One of the most famous celebrations in the ancient world were the religious ceremonies held by the Mayans near the Great Pyramid in Chichen Itza in Mexico. and despite the alleged claim in their calendar, This is not going to be the last spring celebration.
The pyramid, also known by its Spanish name El Castillo has four staircases from its bottom to its top where human sacrifices were made. The staircases were built at a calculated angle so that they would look like a long snake in the sunlight descending on the stairs at exactly the moment of the equinox. Astronomical knowledge about the equinoxes, the short day and the long day are essential for the development of calendars, another thing the Mayans specialized in. They have only one problem, they could not plan to infinity like the old world boards, and their board ends on December 21, 2012 at 11:11 GMT.
Easter
Easter Sunday is celebrated by Christians who believe in the return of Christ and it is celebrated, unlike other Christian holidays, on the Sunday before or after the equinox.
Higan - a Buddhist holiday
Higan is a holiday that Buddhists in Japan celebrate during a week around the spring and autumn equinoxes. The two equinoxes became national holidays during the Meiji period - (1868-1912). Higan means "the other shore" and the name refers to the dead spring that reached nirvana after crossing the river of existence. This holiday constitutes the spiritual step from the world of suffering to the world of happiness.

 

Nowruz - Persian New Year
Iranians celebrate the new year (Nowruz) during the equinox in March. According to the Persian calendar, Nowruz celebrations last 12 days and originate from the pre-Islamic period in the historical Persian religion. The preparations start a long time before and include buying new clothes for all family members and thoroughly cleaning the houses. Wheat representing new growth is grown on a flat plate a few days before the start of the new year in a custom known as Sabzeh or green thor.
Earth Day
Some environmental organizations set Earth Day for March 20 while others set it for April 22. It is a common day for people of all nations, religions and cultural backgrounds celebrating what they have in common - life on earth. This day is used to promote the preservation of natural resources and the prevention of pollution and other destructive forces. Earth Day activities include planting trees, cleaning up waste on roadsides and building recycling and conservation facilities. Earth Day was first observed in 1970.

Comments

  1. Excellent question: 1. How does the scientist know?
    2. Does the omniscient scientist / so to speak / bring things in the name of saying / and peace to the world?

  2. It is strongly recommended to see the Mayan sites in Mexico such as Tulum or Palanca and Chichen Itza
    and see how on a spring day the sunlight penetrates through the circle-shaped hole and signals the beginning of spring and the change of seasons
    It's pretty amazing how they planned it back in the day. The importance was also from an agricultural point of view when it was possible to start harvesting

  3. Could there be a situation, that the equinox is actually the middle of the season, and not the beginning?
    That is, that spring began already at the beginning of February (the almond tree blooms on the XNUMXnd of Shvet), and will end at the beginning of May.
    So, for example, the marigolds that herald the coming of autumn begin to bloom already in August, long before September 22...
    Also the rains, which start (in good years) around November, are much earlier than the short day, December 21.
    It also always seems artificial to me to call it "the day of the beginning of winter"...

  4. How did I know that anything that would happen this year, even seven months before the scheduled date would be associated with this nonsense prediction. Earthquakes happen all the time regardless and are the result of plate movement. The giant tablets, some of which carry entire continents, really don't care about man's calendars.

  5. The victims of the Mayan spring....I just heard about an earthquake in Mexico unfortunately. What do you say? There is a connection??

  6. I don't know what according to the Mayan calendar but why use it if you have the Gregorian calendar according to which after 11:11 (strange, filled a calendar but did they even have a Mayan clock?) it will be 11:12

  7. Nice article, good to learn something.
    My father, and what is written in the Mayan calendar after 21.12.2012, at 11:11 GMT? (if anything is written at all)

  8. Agan, in the past the Hebrew calendar was nicely arranged. More beautiful than all the calendars of today

  9. Regarding the first day of spring: it is not so well known in our places, but the first day of the first month of the original Hebrew calendar - the simple and efficient solar priestly calendar of 364 days, is celebrated on the day of the equinox, which always falls on a Wednesday, (actually it comes out tomorrow) is the day of the creation of the lights. This appears clearly mainly in the Book of Jubilees that appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls. But many echoes of it remain even in the fifth, despite the late editing. Only in the days of the sages was the Hebrew calendar changed to the calendar used today. It was adopted precisely from the Greek lunar calendar.
    You can read a lot about this in Rachel Elior's excellent book "Memory and Women"

  10. There is a division of 5 main hierarchies and each of them is divided into 5 secondary categories when you move the mouse over the category. You can't add main categories because it would look bad for a main page.

  11. Father, I think there is an urgent need to change the titles on the website.
    It is important to have a separation because there are topics that are not related at all

    I suggest something like this

    Mathematics (Essays)
    Relativistic and quantum physics (relativity, quanta, particles, special materials, discoveries, experiments)
    Chemistry and materials (semiconductors, special materials, discoveries in chemistry)
    Astrophysics and cosmology (big bang, black holes, dark matter)
    Space and astronomy (shuttles, NASA, satellites and telescopes, solar and lunar eclipses, etc.)
    Artificial intelligence and robotics (innovations and articles in the field)
    Computers and technology (electro-optics, etc.)
    Biology and Evolution
    Medicine (medicines, diseases..)
    Neuroscience (new discoveries and articles)
    psychology
    Earth (geophysics, climate, etc.)
    General science (rumors and ghost stories)
    Philosophy of science (skepticism, faith, God, etc.)
    Archeology and history (studies and articles)
    Science news in Israel (competitions, Nobel prizes, etc.)

Leave a Reply

Email will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismat to prevent spam messages. Click here to learn how your response data is processed.