Sebastian Palmieri, 8, and his sister, Luna, of Great Falls look at the light pollution display. Light pollution is everywhere, wasting energy and money, harming health, and causing harm to wildlife.
On March 20, from noon to 2 p.m., Turner Farm Observatory in Great Falls held a spring equinox celebration. Participants who had registered with Fairfax County Parks for the activity learned about the equinox, which happened this year on March 20 at 11:33 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Jason Fan, 7, looks at the sun through the telescope. ‘It’s all a red ball,” he says.
There are two equinoxes yearly. One occurs in March, about March 21, and the other in September, around Sept. 23. These are the days when the sun is directly above the equator, resulting in days and nights of equal duration.
The vernal equinox is another name for the March equinox. It denotes the start of the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of the fall season in the Southern Hemisphere.
Observatory Park at Turner Farm is managed by the Analemma Society in collaboration with the Fairfax County Park Authority. According to Dr. Jeffrey L. Kretsch of the Analemma Society, during their equinox celebration, they demonstrated safe practices for viewing the sun in their telescopes, assisted with hands-on sundial creations, and offered other solar system-related activities to registered attendees.
“We have been doing Equinox sessions at the park for several years with great success. Kids enjoy marking the shadow of different objects as the day progresses seeing them make a straight east west lines and knowing that is one way ancients knew it was the equinox and spring (or fall) was starting,” said Kretsch.