March equinox

Day and night are nearly equal all over the world, and spring begins in the north.

Next one: 20 March 2027 at 20:24 UTC, in 142 days
Day and night: About 12 hours each, all over the world
North of the equator: Spring begins
South of the equator: Autumn begins
The Sun: Rises due east, sets due west, and is right overhead at noon on the equator

Did you know?

“Equinox” comes from Latin words meaning “equal night”.
Day and night are not quite equal on the day itself: the air bends sunlight, so you see the Sun a few minutes before it really rises and after it sets.
At the North Pole, the Sun rises at the March equinox and then stays up for about six months.
It falls on 19, 20 or 21 March, because a year is not a whole number of days long.

More NASA photos of March equinoxStraight from NASA’s image library, in the app

Explore more

All of night sky

Orion The Hunter, with three bright stars in a row for his belt. Ursa Major The Great Bear, home of the Big Dipper. Ursa Minor The Little Bear, with Polaris at the tip of its tail. Cassiopeia A bright W of five stars, named after a boastful queen. Scorpius The Scorpion, with red Antares at its heart. Leo The Lion, whose head is a backwards question mark of stars.

Facts: Times worked out with Jean Meeus’s method (Astronomical Algorithms) and checked against the US Naval Observatory. Photo: NASA GSFC. Open March equinox in the app.