Talk:Vernal equinox

message: This page _mentioned_ the difference between the northern and southern hemispheres, but much of it presupposed that humans live in the northern hemisphere.
"...refers to when..." is a horribly clumsy and imprecise locution, not used in good writing.
The "autumnal equinox" page would bear similar editing, but I have to get back to work. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.183.81.100 (talk) 18:58, 1 November 2002 (UTC)
thread_title: Comment from November 2002

message: I am not overjoyed by the use of the non-politically correct "old wives tale" here and I do not think it is appropriate to report every societal aberration in an encyclopedia.  Perhaps if this has to be kept "old wives tale" could go to the Wiktionary and there be referred to "folk legend."  Or a separate entry "Vernal Equinox Egg Myth" could be added.  After all, some people expect earthquakes or weather anomalies when the planets line up a certain way, some people say it's bad luck to step on cracks in the sidewalk or have your path crossed by a black cat, and the Chinese, I have been told, believe it is a bad luck omen, a symbol of death, to give a clock as a gift.  But that does not appear under "clocks" I believe; if it's anywhere it should be under "omen," "charm" or "harbinger of death" or the like
Pdn 14:31, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I personally think a mention about clocks in various cultures and what they might represent would be a worthy addition to any article about clocks.  I'm going to mention this on the clock page...  There isn't any mention of superstition about ladders on the ladder page, but black cat is all about the superstition regarding the felines.  Your point about using the term "old wives' tale" is possibly a valid one, though... I'm not sure how correct it would be to use the term instead of something more clear.  I dunno, I just see it as useful information, provided it's significant enough.  I've never heard of this egg myth before, so it's likely unnecessary, but on the other hand, if most Chinese people feel strongly about the clock gift-giving, I feel that might be worthy of inclusion.  After all, Timbits have a page despite some people wanting to remove it, since the little things are so immensely a part of Canadian culture they might as well be mentioned in the Canada article (if they aren't already)... JC 09:14, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  Please allow political correctness to die the undignified death it deserves. Anyone offended by the term "old wives' tale" has too much time on their hands thx1138 16:40, 20 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Old wives tale

message: The orbital diagram is beautiful, but misleading. It suggests that the earth's axis points in a different direction at different seasons of the year. It does not. The earth's axis should be tipped in the same direction for both the summer and winter solstice illustrations. You should then change the direction from which the sunshine comes from -- from the right in one, and from the left in the other -- just as it actually does when the earth shifts position by 180 degrees in its orbit. I'd omit the illustration for the equinoxes entirely. Anything you would draw would suggest that the earth's axis is oriented straight up and down, which is of course not correct. In reality, the sunlight would be streaming perpendicular to the page, which is not possible to draw in a two-dimensional illustration.
It would also probably be better to use the terms "December Solstice" and "June Solstice" instead of "winter" and "summer." That way, it is correct for all hemispheres. That is how the International Planetarium Society solves this dilemma for its members located in both hemispheres. User:BartBenjamin —Preceding undated comment added 19:05, 22 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Please correct misconceptions

message: **Someone should probably try and find a picture that isn't just a reuse from equinox--Hello'from'SPACE 00:29, 15 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Picture 

message: I suggest that March_equinox merged in this article. Most of information seems to be repeatitive. Mahanchian 11:25, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Someone created March equinox from this article because he did not like this article's "northern hemisphere bias". — Joe Kress 09:36, 21 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I would like to suggest MARCH EQUINOX the main article (hemispherically unbiased), redirected to by FIRST POINT OF ARIES and VERNAL EQUINOX; likewise SEPTEMBER EQUINOX redirect to by FIRST POINT OF LIBRA and AUTUMNAL EQUINOX. Or even better: one EQUINOX article (calendrically unbiased) for all of them. --Tauʻolunga 08:01, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

text: The problem I have with any merge is that in astronomy the northern vernal equinox is the origin of ecliptic longitude (0°), right ascension (0h), and the sidereal day (0h). The southern vernal equinox has no special significance in astronomy. The same applies to astrology. Although the First point of Aries conicides with the northern vernal equinox in western astronomy, in the Hindu calendar it now occurs in April because that calendar ignores precession. — Joe Kress 19:50, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The article would split up in at least 4 main parts: heliocentric view, from which the season explanation would follow; geocentric view to do the same thing; geocentric view focusing on the rest (i.e. coordinate systems); others (astrology, Hindu,…) --Tauʻolunga 21:11, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

text: I don't understand the your distinction between heliocentric and geocentric seasons. — Joe Kress 00:25, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I did not say h & g seasons, I said h & g viewpoints to explain the seaons. I found often that the drawing of the Earth with its titled axis in its orbit around the Sun is easier to comprehend by the students than the drawing of the ecliptic on the celestial sphere. --Tauʻolunga 02:35, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Merge 

message: Could someone who knows why add why the date of the equinox changes irregularily (sometimes the 20th, sometimes the 21st)? The already mentioned precession is an extremely minor effect and cannot be responsible for this. I suspect the reason is the moon or maybe even jupiter but I'm definitely not sure enough of that to add it to the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.219.217.200 (talk • contribs) 
I have the same problem.  All thoughout my youth and early adulthood the Equinox always occurred on the 21st.  One of the reasons this stuck with me so well is that I then was able to state that my birth occurred on the first full day of Spring ie the 22nd.  I would be extremely interested in hearing how and when this change happened.
Michael Cunningham, Milwaukee WI
:See Gregorian calendar#calendar seasonal error for a graph showing the variability in the date of the astronomical winter solstice. The astronomical vernal equinox has a similar variability due to the extra quarter day in the length of the vernal equinox year (365.2424 days) and the leap days of the Gregorian calendar used to account for it, both those every four years and the centurial leap days skipped. But only the astronomical equinox varies—the ecclesiastical vernal equinox has (almost) always been on March 21, and still is there. The latter is used to determine Easter (see computus). — Joe Kress 09:36, 21 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Reason for variation of date