First Day of Spring Brings Solar Eclipse and Supermoon

Happy first day of spring! Before you head outside to celebrate in the crisp spring air, take a moment to teach your homeschooler what happens on the vernal equinox. Plus, learn about two other exciting events happening in our solar system today – a solar eclipse and a supermoon.

The vernal equinox marks the first day of spring. It’s the day that the sun crosses over from the southern into the northern hemisphere, shining its rays directly upon the equator and shedding near equal amounts of light and darkness in both hemispheres throughout the course of the day.

This year, the vernal equinox is accompanied by a supermoon, defined by AccuWeather as a full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at its perigee, or closest distance to the Earth. According to National Geographic, the moon appears about 15 percent larger than average during a supermoon.

Because today’s supermoon falls during a new moon, it was only visible as a silhouette during the day’s third big event – a total solar eclipse.

The eclipse, visible in totality from only a few remote islands in far northern Europe, occurred at 4:30 a.m. (ET) this morning. According to USA Today, regions of northern Africa, northern Asia, and all of Europe were able to catch a glimpse of a partial eclipse.

A total eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, casting a shadow upon the Earth’s surface. National Geographic reports that the lunar shadow cast during a total eclipse is a mere 62 miles wide, meaning that any given spot on the face of our planet experiences an eclipse in totality about once every 300 years.

According to NASA, the next total solar eclipse will occur in August 2017 and will be visible from the United States. Two lunar eclipses visible from the U.S. will take place this year on April 4 and September 28.