Though the snow in the northeast region of the U.S. could fool you, the vernal equinox today officially marks the beginning of spring.
The sun will be directly over the earth's equator at 6:45 p.m. Eastern, The Washington Post explains, which is the exact time spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere.
Now sure, this obviously comes around every year. But in 2015? The vernal equinox is coinciding with a supermoon and a total solar eclipse. That hasn't happened since 1662 according to timeanddate.com, so you could say this will be a pretty rare event. Those of us in North America will sadly be unable to see the eclipse.
Relative to the years passed since the last one, the next time the vernal equinox and a total solar eclipse coincide will be soon--in 2034. The next year, the equinox will line up with an annular eclipse.
It's unfortunate that North Americans will be missing out on the eclipse, but TWP points out that there will still be something worth seeing: the spring equinox is one of only two days when we can see the sun rise at in the east and set at the west along the horizon. This happens everywhere on Earth aside from the polar regions, as neither hemisphere is tilted toward or away from the sun.
So enjoy the slowly increasing amount of daylight you'll be seeing as the weeks go by from here on out. For today, I have to go shovel my sidewalk.
