The astronomical start of a season is based on the position of the Earth in relation to the Sun. More specifically, the start of each season is marked by either a solstice (for winter and summer) or an equinox (for spring and autumn). A solstice is when the Sun reaches the most southerly or northerly point in the sky, while an equinox is when the Sun passes over Earth’s equator. Because of leap years, the dates of the equinoxes and solstices can shift by a day or two over time, causing the start dates of the seasons to shift, too. A week after the new moon, the moon is 90 degrees away from the sun in the sky and is half-illuminated from our point of view — what we call first quarter because it is about a quarter of the way around Earth. In contrast, the meteorological start of a season is based on the annual temperature cycle and the 12-month calendar. According to this definition, each season begins on the first of a particular month and lasts for three months: Spring begins on March 1, summer on June 1, autumn on September 1, and winter on December 1. Climate scientists and meteorologists created this definition to make it easier to keep records of the weather since the start of each meteorological season doesn’t change from year toyear. On the vernal equinox, day and night are each approximately 12 hours long (with the actual time of equal day and night, in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring a few days before the vernal equinox). The Sun crosses the celestial equator going northward; it rises exactly due east and sets exactly duewest.

Seasons Start and End in 2023? | Spring Equinox When Do the Seasons Start and End in 2023? | Spring Equinox

You may be asking, “When is the first day of winter?” When do the four seasons of the year start—fall, winter, spring, summer? It depends on who you ask! Also, the dates of the equinoxes and solstices can change from year to year. Learn more about the four seasons (and guess which of the four seasons is theshortest!). When Do the SeasonsStart?The moon is a sphere that travels once around Earth every 27.3 days. It also takes about 27 days for the moon to rotate on its axis. So, the moon always shows us the same face; there is no single "dark side" of the moon. As the moon revolves around Earth, it is illuminated from varying angles by the sun — what we see when we look at the moon is reflected sunlight. On average, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day, which means sometimes it rises during daylight and other times at night. This is extreme energy, from which positive outcomes are more likely to come with careful thought and integrity. We may feel the urge to spontaneously move forward in an impulsive, Aries way without much thought! However, on the 21st, Mercury turns retrograde just a day after the New Moon which will make us pause as communications become complicated! All the astrological factors involved within this Lunar moonth are contributing to this unusually powerful opportunity for a new beginning – but we might sense that we still need space to think about the best way forward. Thank you, Mercury! He turns direct again on 15th May. If we didn’t understand the insights and attitudes we were offered on the last Aries New Moon on the 21st March, we are being presented with a second dose of Aries energy in the powerful last few hours of the sign on 20th April. The Cosmos underlines the intensity of the energy with a Grand Finale explosion of multi-coloured fireworks – a total Solar Eclipse thrown in for good measure. Because the moon's orbit around the Earth is tilted, it does not line up with Earth's shadow every month and we do not have a lunar eclipse each month. Mercury, conjunct Uranus in Taurus and sextile Mars, brings increased energy for communication on all levels, outbreaks of rebellion against unfair practices – and a change in the quality of communications. Retrograde Mercury (next day) will refuse to let unfinished matters lie, quite prepared to ‘go over old ground’ and to slow life down, forcing a re-examination of duplicitous communications until he turns direct again! Solutions that focus on human movement and the distribution of wealth and essential commodities could become more innovative. The growing gap between rich and poor, the ‘haves and have nots’, rattles cages on both sides of the political abyss and hidden corruption becomes increasingly and undeniably ‘on show’. Selfishness is less easy to hide and the demand for transparency increases. February (mid-summer): Grain Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Red Moon, Wyrt Moon, Corn Moon, Dog Moon, Barley Moon

MOON CALENDAR 2024 Astro MOON CALENDAR 2024

In 2023, there are two lunar eclipses: A penumbral lunar eclipse on May 5 and a partial lunar eclipse on Oct. 28. A few days later, the area of illumination continues to increase. More than half of the moon's face appears to be getting sunlight. This phase is called a waxing gibbous moon. If you would like to know more about moon-mapping, this lunar calendar brings you the upcoming dates of the new moon, full moon and all of her glorious phases in between. We should also add that these beautiful moon phases are all taken from a telescope image that Holly captured herself at home! Space is provided to write daily appointments and to plan according to the Moon’s phase and planetary movement. Each month includes:While our Gregorian calendar was designed to match the time it takes for the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun, it’s not exact. Specifically, it eliminates leap days in century years not evenly divisible by 400, such 1700, 1800, and 2100, and millennium years that are divisible by 4,000, such as 8000 and12000. In other words, it takes Earth less time to go from the autumnal equinox to the vernal equinox than it does to go from the vernal equinox to the autumnalequinox. The partial lunar eclipse on Oct. 18 will be visibleover Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, North America, North/East South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic and Antarctica. It will begin at 2:35 p.m. (1935 GMT), the maximum eclipse occurs at 15:14 p.m. EST (2014 GMT) and the partial eclipse will end at 3:52 p.m. EST (2052 GMT). It will last 4 hours and 25 minutes.