Turn Your Gaze to the Heavens Today

If you are a fan of what occurs in the heavens today is an important and busy day. 

For starters today marks the vernal or spring equinox.  On this day both of earth’s hemispheres receive equal amounts of night and day.  For those of us in the northern hemisphere our days will continue to get longer and our hopes for spring continue to grow stronger.  

You may wish to take note of the location of today’s sunrise (true east) and sunset (true west) as these compass points mark the celestial equator and cardinal directions.  Spring officially begins at 4:58 PM CST. 

There is a bonus supermoon tonight – the third and final supermoon of 2019.  The last time the full moon coincided with the March equinox was 19 years ago, in 2000 – the next time we will witness this event will be 11 years from now in 2030.

NASA

 

Some Native American tribes in our hemisphere referred to March’s full moon as the Crow Moon – after the cawing of the crows and the end of winter.  Other tribes referred to it as the Worm Moon and the return of robins to feast on the emerging worms.  Still other tribes observing the melting and freezing of the snow called this the Crust Moon.  Some people know this as a Full Sap Moon as it marks the tapping of maple trees.  European settlers called this the Lenten Moon.   You can call it whatever you want just know that this moon will attain its peak fullness at 8:43 PM CST.

Raising a toast to spring!