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Ask most people what Groundhog Day, which takes place on Sunday, and they’ll tell you it’s a cult 1993 movie starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.
If they are from North America, and specifically Pennsylvania, they are likely to be familiar with the tradition that a woodchuck, also known as a woodchuck and part of the woodchuck family, comes out of its burrow on February 2 of every year and unintentionally make a seasonal prediction. If he sees his shadow (that is, it’s bright and cold), winter will continue for another six weeks. If it’s cloudy, spring is just around the corner.
A groundhog, especially the one called Phil in Punxsutawney, western Pennsylvania, makes the prediction. Is Phil Right? Occasionally. Not really. We do not care? What’s much more important is that Groundhog Day isn’t just a bunch of traditional nonsense. It actually has astronomical significance, as Groundhog Day is also an important “inter-neighborhood day” for our planet.
Cold visitors await Punxsutawney Phil, who hasn’t seen his shadow, predicting an early spring … [+]
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When is groundhog day?
Groundhog Day always happens on the same day every year, February 2, and that’s the key. This date is important on the Earth’s orbital path around the sun because it is located (or very close to) one of the points halfway between a solstice and an equinox, which are themselves also called “quarters of day “. Such a day is called an inter-neighborhood day.
When are the other crossed days?
When you learn about the other dates and days of the year that are crossed days, you will quickly realize their traditional meaning for our ancestors, the pagans. wheel of the year at certain religious festivals.
- February 2: Groundhog day. It is also Candlemas, a holy day in the Christian calendar.
- May 1: Help, a traditional spring festival in the northern hemisphere.
- August 1: Lammas, a traditional pagan celebration of the first harvest of the season.
- October 31: Halloween and All Saints’ Day.
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How the year is divided
The Earth takes 365 days to orbit the sun, but this orbit has path markers because the Earth is tilted on an axis at an angle of 23.5 °. Our journey around the sun is therefore divided into seasons, where each hemisphere receives more light and heat from the sun. The difference in temperature is due to many factors, but the most important is the height of the sun in the sky, which determines its intensity and the length of the day.
Thus, the annual orbit of the Earth – one year – is divided into two solstices and two equinoxes, with quarter-days crossed in between.
illustration of the earth revolves around the sun
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What are the equinoxes and the solstices?
At the June solstice, the tilt of the Earth’s axis is titled such that the northern hemisphere is in the hot seat. The midday sun appears to be at its northern point, directly above the Tropic of Cancer, so the days are long in the northern hemisphere and short in the southern hemisphere. At the December solstice, the sun is at its most southerly point south of the equator above the Tropic of Capricorn, so the reverse occurs. An equinox marks the day when the midday sun crosses the equator.
The Stonehenge stone circle in the early morning light
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When are the equinoxes and solstices?
Adding “summer” and “spring” to the dates of the equinoxes and solstices is simply a northern hemisphere bias; these are world events that signal the start of the opposite season in the southern hemisphere.
- March 20: (spring) Spring equinox
- June 21: Solstice (summer)
- September 22: (fall) Equinox
- December 21: Solstice (winter)
Why the crossed days are… false!
If a cross day is the day exactly halfway between a solstice and an equinox, then Groundhog Day in 2020 should technically be February 4. There is a similar situation with the other crossed days. So what is going on? As usual with giving fixed dates to anything astronomical, the days and dates gradually change over large time scales. Known as the “precession of the equinoxes“The slight oscillation of the Earth’s axis as it spins – something that takes 25,920 years to come full circle – means a slight distortion of the exact dates of the crossed day shifts.
Either way, Groundhog Day isn’t just a funny nonsense, and meteorologist Phil is part of something good, much bigger.
I wish you a clear sky and big eyes
