Longer days, shorter nights to come after Saturday’s Equinox

The coming Vernal Equinox this Saturday marks the beginning of an annual shift in the length of days and nights. On the Equinox itself, the day will be as long as the night; afterwards, the days will grow increasingly longer and the nights will become shorter until the summer solstice in June.

In the Philippines, PAGASA head Vicente Malano said the celestial event will happen at 6:45 a.m.

"The Sun reaches this point on March 21 (Vernal Equinox) at 6:45 a.m. (Philippine Standard Time), marking the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere," he said.

He said the Vernal Equinox is an imaginary location in the sky defined as a place where the ecliptic and the celestial equator meet.

On this day, he said "night and day are about the same length at every location on the Earth."

But after the Equinox, day will start to be longer than night.

The Vernal Equinox also marks the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. — Joel Locsin/LBG/TJD, GMA News