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Equinox

Stig
Stig Posts: 29,027
in Not Sports Related
Tomorrow morning at 3.06 we'll be at Spring Equinox.  It seems hard to believe, for me at least, maybe because it's been so cloudy and miserable lately it doesn't feel like we're getting anything like 12 hours daylight yet. 

I like the look of this little experiment you can do, except it doesn't look possible here because of the cloud: Find an empty space such as a park or a parking lot where there are few tall buildings, trees or hills to obstruct the Sun. Find your location's latitude. Subtract this number from 90. This will be the angle you will affix the stick in the ground.  If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, use your compass to find south and point the stick in that direction. If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, point the stick or the ruler to the north. Using the protractor fix the stick in the ground at the angle you just calculated - remember to point it in the direction opposite to the hemisphere you are on. Wait till Noon and see the shadow of the stick disappear. At Noon, the stick will have no shadow at all!  https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/ten-things-march-equinox.html

Anyway, lets enjoy the changing seasons and look forward to some longer warmer days.

Comments

  • Gribbo
    Gribbo Posts: 8,485
    Leave the house at 10 to 6 every morning and it definitely seems lighter that end of the day. 
  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 29,027
    Gribbo said:
    Leave the house at 10 to 6 every morning and it definitely seems lighter that end of the day. 
    That'll be it. I just need to get up earlier.  ;) 
  • Elthamaddick
    Elthamaddick Posts: 15,814
    thought this was about the Leicester Square nightclub back in the day ;)
  • guinnessaddick
    guinnessaddick Posts: 28,638
    Made a visit to Knowth last week. The east-west orientation of the passages at Knowth suggests astronomical alignment with the equinoxes. It’s not far from New Grange, all fascinating stuff. Well worth a visit.
  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 29,027
    Happy Equinox everyone! Looking forward to all those long dark nights (not).
  • golfaddick
    golfaddick Posts: 33,630
    Stig said:
    Happy Equinox everyone! Looking forward to all those long dark nights (not).
    I'll see you on the other side in 6 months. 
  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 29,027
    golfaddick said:
    Stig said:
    Happy Equinox everyone! Looking forward to all those long dark nights (not).
    I'll see you on the other side in 6 months. 
    I absolutely love Spring Equinox, this one as important as it is is a bit meh to me. What I really hate that's coming up soon is the clocks going back. Pointless and painful.
  • jimmymelrose
    jimmymelrose Posts: 9,753
    It's not pointless. You get more light in the mornings which firstly means that schoolchildren don't have to go to school in the dark. 
  • MrLargo
    MrLargo Posts: 7,991
    jimmymelrose said:
    It's not pointless. You get more light in the mornings which firstly means that schoolchildren don't have to go to school in the dark. 
    Nope. They get to go home in the dark instead.
  • DaveMehmet
    DaveMehmet Posts: 21,601
    MrLargo said:
    jimmymelrose said:
    It's not pointless. You get more light in the mornings which firstly means that schoolchildren don't have to go to school in the dark. 
    Nope. They get to go home in the dark instead.
    Maybe they need better teachers
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  • lordromford
    lordromford Posts: 7,784
    DaveMehmet said:
    MrLargo said:
    jimmymelrose said:
    It's not pointless. You get more light in the mornings which firstly means that schoolchildren don't have to go to school in the dark. 
    Nope. They get to go home in the dark instead.
    Maybe they need better teachers

  • Oggy Red
    Oggy Red Posts: 44,955
    jimmymelrose said:
    It's not pointless. You get more light in the mornings which firstly means that schoolchildren don't have to go to school in the dark. 
    Even with the clock change, school kids in the north and in Scotland still go to school in the mornings in the dark. 

    And it's dark when they come home again. 

    As someone said, pointless.
  • Leroy Ambrose
    Leroy Ambrose Posts: 14,436
    It's nothing to do with school kids, never has been. Nothing to do with farmers either, although that myth persists. It was originally put in place as a way to conserve energy during war efforts.

    Utterly pointless anachronism now, should have been abolished years ago. 
  • McBobbin
    McBobbin Posts: 12,051
    Pretty sure we didn't even have standard time in the UK until trains and stuff
  • CaptainRobbo
    CaptainRobbo Posts: 619
    McBobbin said:
    Pretty sure we didn't even have standard time in the UK until trains and stuff
    Before standard time, Bristol time was 10 minutes slower than London.
  • golfaddick
    golfaddick Posts: 33,630
    I like the twice yearly clock changes. Distincts the seasons. End of October & you know winter is on it's way. End of March and summer is just around the corner.

    As for why.....don't give a shit really. Only thing to remember is that the world is governed by GMT or BST. As Al Murray once said......the Germans don't sit down for dinner until we tell them to 😄.

  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 29,027
    jimmymelrose said:
    It's not pointless. You get more light in the mornings which firstly means that schoolchildren don't have to go to school in the dark. 
    In their mum's SUV.
  • Oggy Red
    Oggy Red Posts: 44,955
    CaptainRobbo said:
    McBobbin said:
    Pretty sure we didn't even have standard time in the UK until trains and stuff
    Before standard time, Bristol time was 10 minutes slower than London.
    And at Penzance station in Cornwall, 24 minutes behind London Paddington time.

    Nothing really changes. 

    Trains are still 24 minutes late arriving at Penzance  :D
  • CaptainRobbo
    CaptainRobbo Posts: 619
    Oggy Red said:
    CaptainRobbo said:
    McBobbin said:
    Pretty sure we didn't even have standard time in the UK until trains and stuff
    Before standard time, Bristol time was 10 minutes slower than London.
    And at Penzance station in Cornwall, 24 minutes behind London Paddington time.

    Nothing really changes. 

    Trains are still 24 minutes late arriving at Penzance  :D
    You could say Penzance was a few years behind London, the lucky buggers.
  • Alwaysneil
    Alwaysneil Posts: 13,807
    Love the way we always discuss moving permanently onto GMT+1, surely GMT is our historical benchmark?

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