Families can visit the Sunwheel – a collection of standing stones – located near McGuirk Stadium (just off Rocky Hill Road) to learn about the equinox, the history of the Sunwheel, and the role of sun and moon cycles in cultures and history from all over the world. The precise moment of the vernal equinox this year is 12:57pm Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, March 20th, 2014, but the event can be celebrated all day long – or even in advance! On the day of the vernal equinox, families can visit the UMass Sunwheel in Amherst for one of two events: one for sunrise and one for sunset. And here in western Massachusetts? We get the beginning of springtime, lengthening days, gradual warmth, sweet maple syrup, and community celebrations that mark the change of season… Along with a shadow-less noontime around the equator, the equinox brings six months of darkness to the south pole and six months of a perpetually visible sun to the north pole. Marking the very first official day of spring, the vernal equinox is the moment at which the sun is located directly over the Earth’s equator. This Thursday, March 20th, 2014, on the day of the vernal equinox, families can visit the UMass Sunwheel in Amherst for a morning and/or evening gathering…Īs we spend the month of March scouring the local landscape for signs of spring to appear, we often forget to prepare ourselves for the truest sign of spring there is: the vernal equinox.
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