Today is the March equinox, also known as the vernal or spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. At 8:06 PM, the sun will shine directly on the equator and all parts of Earth will have nearly equal amounts of day and night (we wind up with a bit more daylight due to atmospheric refraction and using the top of the sun to mark both its rise and set). As Earth proceeds in its orbit of the sun, Earth’s axial tilt will place the northern hemisphere in increasingly direct sunlight—the March equinox marks the beginning of astronomical spring as our days become longer than our nights. Learn more from NOAA, NASA Space Place, National Geographic Education, or Space.com. NOAA also offers an excellent visualization.
In Central Oregon, our latitude (44.06°N at our Bend office) means daylight will increase from just over 12 hours today to 15½ hours at the solstice on June 20th, 2024. You can determine exact sunrise and sunset times for your precise location using the NOAA Solar Calculator. The time for each equinox and other seasonal phenomena can be found using the US Naval Observatory’s Earth’s Seasons calculator.
Enjoy your increasing hours of sunshine, Central Oregonians!