Vernal Equinox (redirected from Chichen Itz‡)

vernal equinox: see equinox.

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vernal equinox [′vərn·əl ′ē·kwə‚näks]

(astronomy)

The sun's position on the celestial sphere about March 21; at this time the sun's path on the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator. Also known as first point of Aries; March equinox; spring equinox.

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Vernal Equinox

March 21 or 22

The vernal equinox, Latin for "of spring" and "equal night," is one of the two occasions during the year when the sun crosses the equator, and the days and nights everywhere are nearly of equal length. It marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.
See also Autumnal Equinox; Higan; Nyepi; Shunbun-no-Hi

CONTACTS:
Lab for Particles and Fields
Code 672
Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
301-286-0447
www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov
The Royal Observatory Greenwich, National Maritime Museum
Greenwich Park
Greenwich, Greater London SE10 9NF United Kingdom
44-20-8312-6565; fax: 44-20-8312-6632
www.nmm.ac.uk

SOURCES:
AmerBkDays-2000, p. 222
BkDays-1864, vol. II, p. 364
DictDays-1988, p. 37
DictFolkMyth-1984, p. 1105
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 215

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Vernal Equinox (Chichén Itz‡)

March 21

ChichÉn Itzá, located on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, is one of the country's biggest and best preserved Mayan ruins. Every year on the Vernal Equinox, the angle of the sunlight hitting the enormous El Castillo pyramid creates a shadow that gives the illusion of a snake slithering down its side. The Mayans believed that this was Kukulcán, the feathered snake god known to the Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl.
Researchers were not aware of the annual awakening of the serpent god until 30 to 40 years ago, but since that time tourists have converged on the site on March 21—although the serpent can be seen up to four days before or after the equinox. Visitors enjoy folk dancers, musicians, and poets while they wait for the moment of the serpent's appearance, when the hours of sunlight equal the hours of darkness. Although the serpent can also be seen at the Autumnal Equinox in September, this is during the rainy season and cloudy weather often spoils the effect.

CONTACTS:
Yucatan State Tourism Office
Calle 59 No. 514 POR 66 y 64
Centro C.P., 97000 Mexico
52-999-924-9389; fax: 52-999-928-6547

SOURCES:
WildPlanet-1995, p. 536

Celebration day: Mar 21

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Vernal Equinox 

one of the two intersections of the ecliptic with the celestial equator. During the vernal equinox, the sun in its apparent annual motion along the ecliptic crosses from the southern hemisphere of the celestial sphere to the northern hemisphere. It is denoted by Y or (Y is the sign of the constellation Aries, in which the vernal equinox, shifting about the celestial sphere as a result of precession, was located 2,000 years ago, when the ancient Greeks composed the astronomical terminology.) The vernal equinox plays an important role in astronomy. It is the reference point in some systems of celestial coordinates and is used in problems connected with the measurement of time. The sun passes through the vernal equinox on March 20 or 21.