March 17 () –
in meteorologyEarth’s spring season for the northern hemisphere and fall season for the southern hemisphere began on March 1.
However, the March equinox brings the astronomical seasons of spring and autumn, respectively, for the two hemispheres of our planet. This will happen on Monday, March 20 at 20:24 UTC.. This season will last approximately 92 days and 18 hours, ending on June 21 with the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the south.
The beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere is defined by the instant the Earth passes the point in its orbit from which the center of the Sun crosses the celestial equator in its apparent northward motion. The day this happens, the duration of the day and night practically coincide. This circumstance is also called the spring equinox.
At the time when spring begins in the northern hemisphere, autumn begins in the southern hemisphere, reports the National Astronomical Observatory of Spain.
Throughout the 21st century, the beginning of spring can occur, at most, on three different calendar dates (March 19, 20 and 21), its earliest start being that of the year 2096 and the latest start being that of 2003. The variations from one year to the next are due to the way in which the sequence of years according to the calendar fits (some are leap years, others not) with the duration of each orbit of the Earth around the Sun.
Early spring is the time of year when day length lengthens most rapidly.. At the latitudes of the peninsula, the Sun rises in the morning more than a minute earlier than the day before, and sets more than a minute later in the afternoon. As a consequence, at the beginning of spring, the time that the Sun is above the horizon increases by almost three minutes each day.
TWO ECLIPSES
During the spring of 2023 there will be two eclipses, one of the Sun and the other of the Moon.. The solar eclipse will take place on April 20, it will be of a mixed type, and it will be seen in Southeast Asia and Oceania. The lunar eclipse will take place on May 5, it will be of the penumbral type, and it can be seen in Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Other phenomena of astronomical interest during the spring of 2023 are the Lyrid meteor showers, whose maximum is expected around April 23, and the Eta Aquarids, with a maximum around May 6. The full moons of the season will take place on April 6, May 5 and June 4.
TIME CHANGE
Although both the European Parliament and the Commission have ruled in favor of eliminating time changes in the future, there is still no final decision on the matter. For this reason, during 2023 the traditional time change that takes place on the last Sunday of March will continue to be in force. In Spain, That day, March 26, at 2 in the morning peninsular time, we will advance the clocks one hour to mark 3. In the Canary Islands, 1 in the morning will become 2.
