Celebrate the Vernal Equinox

And discover why your internet may glitch out today.

If you notice interruptions in your internet and cable service today, you can blame the Equinox. I already had to reset my router this morning, myself.

During a few days around the Equinox, the Sun goes directly behind rotating satellites. Think about it as blocking the beam-width of the ground-station antennae for a short period each day.

The Sun’s power and broad radiation spectrum overload the Earth’s stations’ receptions circuits with noise and disrupt or degrade the signal from a few minutes up to an hour. This effect is referred to as ‘sun-noise’.

What exactly is the Vernal Equinox?

Image by Przemyslaw “Blueshade” Idzkiewicz.

The equinox is the instant when the plane of Earth’s equator passes through the geometric center of the Sun’s disk. It occurs twice a year, around March 20 and September 23. The date varies because of factors including leap year and the shape of the sun. It is that precise moment when the center of the sun is directly above the equator.

The word equinox is from the Latin aequus, meaning equal, and nox, or night. On this day—night and day are of approximately equal length all over the planet. Whether you refer to it as a vernal equinox, meaning spring or autumnal equinox, depends on whether you’re in the northern or southern hemisphere.

A time of celebration.

For thousands of years, humans celebrated the vernal equinox as a time of rebirth and abundance. Ancient Saxons held a feast day for their fertility goddess, Eostre, on the full moon following the March equinox.

Even today, the date Easter is celebrated varies each year to correspond to the first Sunday following the full moon after the spring equinox. Other traditions, such as looking for eggs delivered by a rabbit, have pagan roots, too.

Wherever you are, take a moment today to think about the sun and the constant power with which it lights our planet. Get outside and enjoy some sunshine, and if you can, plant something to celebrate the cycle of rebirth.

And at least you’ll know why if your internet goes out today.