This eye-catching book takes readers on a journey with Mimi the cat! We will explore weather, seasons and the environment with vivid illustrations and fun facts! Read on for a super guest post from Vicky Woodgate!
Spring it on!
Yay, lighter days, warmer weather, birds are tweeting, cute primrose flowers peep out and daffodils bloom. So, does this mean it is officially spring?
Scientists classify seasons differently. An astronomical season depends on four points in the Earth’s journey around the sun: the two solstices and the equinox.
A meteorological season is a grouping of three months of similar weather patterns.
So, let’s break this down, meteorological seasons in the Northern Hemisphere are simply:
Winter: December – January – February
Spring: March – April – May
Summer: June – July – August
Autumn: September – October – November
In the Southern Hemisphere it is reversed.
Now this is where it gets interesting – an astronomical season is marked by four important events which happen while the sun travels the 365 days it takes to circumnavigate around the sun.
As the earth is tilted at 23.5 % – due to a collision with another planet called Theia 4.5 billion years ago, (that’s the theory anyway) this causes parts of the planet to get different amounts of daylight as it rotates around the sun. The equinox marks the time when the sun passes directly over the equator and is when day and night are the same length. A solstice occurs on the longest and shortest days. These days and times vary ever so slightly year on year.
20-22nd March Equinox – day and night are roughly the same length.
20-22nd June Solstice – The longest day.
20-22nd September Equinox – day and night are roughly the same length.
20-22nd December Solstice – The longest night.
Remember in the Southern Hemisphere it is reversed.
So, depending on how you want to look at it, Spring really has sprung come March 20th -Yippee!
Cat-tastic
Many ancient cultures revered these points in time including the Egyptians who it seems may have created the Great Sphinx of Giza (that huge cat person) to celebrate and capture this moment. The sun sets exactly on its shoulders during the spring and autumn equinox.
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