Spring

Every year, on February 2nd, the world waits for Punxsutawney Phil to crawl out of his burrow in anticipation of learning how much winter we have left; sorry, Phil, regardless of whether you see your shadow or come out of your home shadowless, springtime is still six weeks away.

February 2nd is one of four cross-quarter days, the one right in the middle of the season. The new season, spring, starts this year at 7:02 A.M., DST, Wednesday, March 20th. Yes, Daylight Saving Time begins early, on March 10th, meaning you probably won't even notice the change from winter to spring; but, knowing exactly what time spring begins is very useful, as the moment of the seasonal change points out the most important position in the sky: The zero point for right ascension, or celestial longitude.

Not having a real building in space to use as the origin of east-west positioning in the sky - the International Space Station doesn't count, as it's only been up a few years - a zero point for celestial longitude was necessary, and, as the beginning of the season of spring was considered the most important time of the year, this indicator was utilized. Spring begins when the two great circles, the ecliptic - the Sun's apparent path through the zodiacal constellations - and the celestial equator - ours continued upward into the sky - intersect as the Sun, which has been below the
celestial equator, will appear to rise that day directly eastward, travel across the sky, then set exactly west. From our perspective, if we didn't have the advantage of an atmosphere, we would theoretically have equal daytime and equal night conditions that day, giving rise to the name for the first day of spring: The vernal equinox. From then, and for the next six months, the Sun will rise and set north of east and west, respectively.

The first day of spring is also important as it, when coupled with the first Full Moon following it, determines the dates for several specific annual moveable days of feasting, celebration and inner reflection.  This year, the Full Moon for March, referred to as the Full Worm, is reached at 5:27 A.M. Wednesday, March 27th.  By decree, the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the first day of spring (the vernal equinox) is set as the celebration of Easter, which brings it this year to March 31st, making the Friday directly before, March 29th, Good Friday.  Forty days (excluding Sundays) before Easter signals the start of the religious season of Lent, on Ash Wednesday, February 13th, and then, of course, the well-known Southern celebration, Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, February 12th.