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The Vernal Equinox, Saturn, and the Big Dipper

The Vernal Equinox on Saturday, March 20 at 10:32am Pacific daylight time heralded the beginning of the spring season for Earth's northern hemisphere. At the instant of vernal equinox, the sun lied in the plane of Earth's equator. As a consequence, days and nights are of equal length (12 hours each) everywhere on our planet. Another consequence is that the sun rises due east along the horizon and sets due west. During the next three months, as the sun shines more and more directly on our hemisphere, daylight hours will lengthen and the rise and set positions of the sun will gradually shift toward the northeast and northwest, respectively.

Saturn lies at opposition to the sun on Sunday, March 21. Look for this creamy white planet over the east horizon as evening twilight gathers any day this week or next. Saturn remains in the sky all night currently, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise. It will remain a good telescopic target for the next three or four months. Saturn's rings are currently tilted only a few degrees to the line of sight (nearly edge-on); though they will gradually open up to nearly 30 degrees inclined some seven years from now.

The Big Dipper, an abbreviated version of the larger constellation known as Ursa Major (the Great Bear), hovers nearly straight overhead during evening hours from March through June. The seven stars of the dipper -- all but one classified as "second magnitude" in brightness -- can be distinctly seen on clear evenings, even from light-polluted city locations. The two stars at the end of the bowl of the Big Dipper point downward toward a lone, second-magnitude star: Polaris, the North Star, which perpetually marks the direction of true north.

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The Vernal Equinox on Saturday, March 20 at 10:32am Pacific daylight time heralded the beginning of the spring season for Earth's northern hemisphere. At the instant of vernal equinox, the sun lied in the plane of Earth's equator. As a consequence, days and nights are of equal length (12 hours each) everywhere on our planet. Another consequence is that the sun rises due east along the horizon and sets due west. During the next three months, as the sun shines more and more directly on our hemisphere, daylight hours will lengthen and the rise and set positions of the sun will gradually shift toward the northeast and northwest, respectively.

Saturn lies at opposition to the sun on Sunday, March 21. Look for this creamy white planet over the east horizon as evening twilight gathers any day this week or next. Saturn remains in the sky all night currently, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise. It will remain a good telescopic target for the next three or four months. Saturn's rings are currently tilted only a few degrees to the line of sight (nearly edge-on); though they will gradually open up to nearly 30 degrees inclined some seven years from now.

The Big Dipper, an abbreviated version of the larger constellation known as Ursa Major (the Great Bear), hovers nearly straight overhead during evening hours from March through June. The seven stars of the dipper -- all but one classified as "second magnitude" in brightness -- can be distinctly seen on clear evenings, even from light-polluted city locations. The two stars at the end of the bowl of the Big Dipper point downward toward a lone, second-magnitude star: Polaris, the North Star, which perpetually marks the direction of true north.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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