What is a solstice. The days of the solstice and equinox: numbers, dates, how they differ, how many are there in a year, what are the national holidays at this time? Processes and phenomena on the day of the autumn equinox and winter solstice: how to use St.
SOLSTICE, one of the two days of the year when the Sun is at its greatest angular distance from the CELESTIAL EQUATOR, i.e. when the height of the sun above the horizon at noon is minimum or maximum. This leads to the longest day and the most… … Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary
Solstice Dictionary of Russian synonyms. solstice solstice (colloquial) Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.: Russian language. Z. E. Alexandrova. 2011 ... Synonym dictionary
- [onts], solstices, cf. (aster.). The moment (which happens twice a year) when the sun passes through the point on the ecliptic that is farthest from the celestial equator. Summer Solstice (June 22, when the day begins to wane). Winter Solstice (22… … Dictionary Ushakov
- (summer and winter) moments when the height of the Sun above the horizon at noon is maximum or minimum, respectively. The solstice corresponds to the largest (summer) and smallest (winter) value of the declination of the Sun (see Equatorial coordinates). ... ... Big encyclopedic Dictionary
- (Solstice) see Solstice Points, Winter Solstice Point, Point summer solstice. Samoilov K.I. Marine Dictionary. M. L .: State Naval Publishing House of the NKVMF of the USSR, 1941 Solstice moment of passage of c ... Marine Dictionary
solstice- bookstore SOLSTICE, collo. solstice ... Dictionary-thesaurus of synonyms of Russian speech
solstice- The moment at which the Sun, in its apparent annual movement along the ecliptic, passes either through its northernmost point (summer solstice June 21-22) or through its southernmost point (winter solstice December 21-22) ... Geography Dictionary
- [he], I, cf. (specialist.). The period of time when the noon height of the Sun remains almost unchanged (highest or lowest). Summer s. (from maximum height sun above the horizon; June 2122). Winter s. (from minimum height Sun over... ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov
On the winter solstice Great Mother, Queen of Heaven, gives birth to the Son of Light. The virgin gave birth, the light grows (Death and resurrection of Osiris). Full moon visible in Nadir, and in the east the constellation Virgo rises. Janua caeli (gates of heaven) winter solstice in ... ... Symbol Dictionary
Books
- Winter Solstice, Khazanov B.. A company of middle-aged companions spends a late evening with a glass of wine, remembering meetings with women. Book author, former doctor, tells about the origin of the genus to which he ...
- Winter Solstice, Boris Khazanov. The company of middle-aged companions spends a late evening with a glass of wine, remembering meetings with women. The author of the book, a former doctor, talks about the origin of the family to which he ...
In this case, the longest or shortest day is observed. In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs on December 21 or December 22, and then the shortest day (and the longest night) is observed, and the summer solstice occurs on June 20 or 21, and then the longest day (and the shortest night) is observed. IN southern hemisphere on the specified dates fall, respectively, summer and winter solstices.
In middle latitudes, during the year in spring and early summer, the Sun rises higher and higher above the horizon every day at noon, and on the day of the summer solstice it “stops” and reverses its movement. Then every day at noon it goes lower and lower and finally, at the time of the winter solstice, it reverses its movement again and begins to rise.
Due to the leap year shift, the dates of the solstice fluctuate by 1-2 days. Summer solstice, usually occurs on June 21, winter - on December 22. In astronomy, the moment of the winter solstice is taken as the beginning of winter, and the moment of the summer solstice is taken as the beginning of summer. The astronomical longitude of the sun at these moments, respectively, is 90 ° and 270 °, and in astrology this means the entry of the Sun into the sign of Cancer (summer solstice) and Capricorn ().
For several days before and after the moment of the solstice, the Sun almost does not change its declination, its midday heights in the sky are almost unchanged (the height changes during the year according to a schedule close to a sinusoid); hence the very name of the solstice. From observations of the heights of the Sun during both solstices, the inclination of the plane of the ecliptic to the plane of the celestial equator can be determined.
solstice
Solstice (solstice) - the old Russian name for the solstice. Corresponded to the moment of the "turn" of the Sun for profit or loss of the day.
in Russia and in many European countries The winter solstice was celebrated as a celebration of the birth of the sun.
Read also - Yule (medieval winter solstice Scandinavian and Germanic peoples).
Ivan Kupala
Ivan Kupala, also Ivan's Day, is a pagan folk holiday celebrated in Russia, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine on the days of the summer solstice. Ivan Kupala is celebrated on June 24 (according to the Julian calendar), taking into account the natural and historical factor of the solstice. Ivan Kupala is also celebrated by many on July 7 (this day according to the current Gregorian calendar corresponds to June 24 according to the Julian). Ivanov's day has old tradition celebrations are also virtually all over Europe.
Heinrich Semiradsky. Night on Ivan Kupala
Etymology
The name of the holiday arose as a result of the gradual imposition (in the process of Christianization) of the name church day in memory of John (Ivan) the Baptist (John the Baptist) on the ancient pre-Christian (Slavic) holiday of Kupala, dedicated to the pagan god Kupala, which is calendar, and timed to coincide with the shortest night (June 21-22). Previously, the holiday was called Kupa, the same root as the word together, which means unity.
About the holiday
Midsummer Day is filled with rituals associated with water, fire and herbs.
Kupala day - Chram Mazowiecki RKP (2009)
Water
Swimming on Ivan's Day is a nationwide custom, but in some regions the peasants considered such bathing dangerous, since on this day the birthday man is a water man himself, who cannot stand it when people climb into his kingdom, and takes revenge on them by drowning any careless. On this holiday, folk beliefs, water can be "friends" with fire, and their union is considered a natural force.
Fire
main feature Kupala night - cleansing bonfires. They danced around them, jumped over them: whoever jumps more successfully and higher will be happier. In some places, livestock was driven through the Kupala fire to protect it from pestilence. In Kupala bonfires, mothers burned shirts taken from sick children so that diseases would burn along with this linen. Youth and children, jumping over the fires, made noisy funny Games and racing. Be sure to play in the burners. According to the beliefs of the peasants, on the Kupala, the shortest night, you can’t sleep, as all evil spirits come to life and become especially active - witches, werewolves, mermaids, snakes, sorcerers, brownies, water spirits, goblin.
Herbs
A characteristic sign of Ivan Kupala is the numerous customs and legends associated with the plant world. Herbs and flowers collected on Midsummer's Day are placed under Ivan's dew, dried and preserved, considering such herbs to be more healing. They fumigate the sick with them, fight evil spirits, they are thrown into a flooded oven during a thunderstorm to protect the house from a lightning strike, they are also used to kindle love or to “dry out”.
main character flora on Midsummer's Day, a fern became, with which legends about treasures were everywhere associated. FROM fern flower, opening for just a few moments at midnight on Midsummer Day, you can see all the treasures, no matter how deep they are in the ground. In pre-revolutionary Russia, Ivan Kupala was one of the most revered and important holidays in a year, the entire population took part in it, and the tradition required the active inclusion of each participant in the celebration in all rituals and the obligatory implementation of a number of rules, prohibitions and customs.
In Latvia, this holiday is still the most revered and popular, and even more popular than Christmas and New Year. Here it is called "Ligo" or "Yanov Day". June 23-24 are public holidays, and the entire population of the country (both the Latvian and the Russian part) rushes to dachas, vegetable gardens and the banks of various reservoirs to fry shish kebabs and make fires until the morning. These days, half of the annual norm of beer is drunk [source not specified 285 days], and the intensified "search for the fern flower" annually leads to a surge in the birth rate in March.
Signs and customs
1. On the night before Ivan Kupala, the girls lower wreaths with lighted splinter or candles on the river waves, weave wreaths from Ivan da Marya, burdock, virgin grass and a bear's ear. If the wreath sinks immediately, it means that the betrothed has fallen out of love and cannot marry him. Whoever's wreath floats the longest will be the happiest of all, and whoever's splinter burns longer, she will live a long, long life!
2. On Midsummer Night, witches become more dangerous, and therefore nettles should be placed on the threshold and on window sills to protect yourself from their attacks. It is necessary to lock up the horses so that the witches do not steal them and ride them to Bald Mountain: the horse will not return alive from there!
3. On Midsummer Night, oil is collected in a vessel on ant heaps, which is recognized as a healing agent against various ailments.
4. On the Kupala night, the trees move from place to place and talk to each other through the rustle of leaves; animals and even herbs talk among themselves, which are filled with a special, miraculous power that night.
5. If on this night you pick the flower of Ivan da Marya and put it in the corners of the hut, the thief will not come to the house: brother and sister (yellow and purple flowers of the plant) will talk to each other, and it will seem to the thief that the owner is talking to the mistress.
6. At midnight, without looking, you need to pick up flowers and put them under your pillow, and in the morning check if there are twelve different herbs. If you have enough, you will get married this year. A tripartite (plantain) is placed under the head, saying: “Triputnik-fellow, you live by the road, you see the young and the old, tell me my betrothed!”
7. If twelve gardens are climbed on Midsummer's Day, any wish will come true.
I.I. Golikov. Fortune telling on wreaths. Palekh, 1920s
Winter Solstice and Cultural Tradition
The winter solstice has occupied an important place in culture since at least the Neolithic. It is believed that this is proved by the surviving archaeological sites - such as, for example, Stonehenge in England and Newgrange in Ireland. The main axis of both structures indicates the point of sunrise (Newgrange) or sunset (Stonehenge) of the sun on the winter solstice. The ancient Slavs also celebrated the days of the solstice and equinox. These days (two solstices and two equinoxes - Kolyada, Velikden, Kupala and Ovsen - Tausen) served as starting points for farming, construction, and other vital matters for society. These days, besides exact date they also have their own “week” (Rusalia, Carols and others).
The Semitic predecessor of the "festival of light" - Hanukkah - is also presumably associated with the solstice.
| Dates and times of solstices and equinoxes in UTC-0 (for Kiev time +2 hours) |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| year | Equinox March |
Solstice June |
Equinox September |
Solstice December |
||||
| day | time | day | time | day | time | day | time | |
| 2010 | 20 | 17:32 | 21 | 11:28 | 23 | 03:09 | 21 | 23:38 |
| 2011 | 20 | 23:21 | 21 | 17:16 | 23 | 09:04 | 22 | 05:30 |
| 2012 | 20 | 05:14 | 20 | 23:09 | 22 | 14:49 | 21 | 11:12 |
| 2013 | 20 | 11:02 | 21 | 05:04 | 22 | 20:44 | 21 | 17:11 |
| 2014 | 20 | 16:57 | 21 | 10:51 | 23 | 02:29 | 21 | 23:03 |
| 2015 | 20 | 22:45 | 21 | 16:38 | 23 | 08:20 | 22 | 04:48 |
| 2016 | 20 | 04:30 | 20 | 22:34 | 22 | 14:21 | 21 | 10:44 |
| 2017 | 20 | 10:28 | 21 | 04:24 | 22 | 20:02 | 21 | 16:28 |
| 2018 | 20 | 16:15 | 21 | 10:07 | 23 | 01:54 | 21 | 22:23 |
| 2019 | 20 | 21:58 | 21 | 15:54 | 23 | 07:50 | 22 | 04:19 |
| 2020 | 20 | 03:50 | 20 | 21:44 | 22 | 13:31 | 21 | 10:02 |
Defined as the point in time in the Earth's annual rotation around the Sun when the shortest day or night is observed.
There are two solstices in the year - winter and summer. In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs on December 21 or 22. On these dates, you can observe the shortest day (and the longest night). The summer solstice falls on June 20 or 21. At this point, the shortest night (and the longest day) is observed. In the southern hemisphere, the above dates are, respectively, the summer and winter solstices.
If we talk about middle latitudes, then it should be noted that there, throughout the year in spring and early summer, the Sun will rise higher and higher above the horizon. The summer solstice stops and reverses the movement.
Then the Sun will rise lower every day and eventually, at the time of the winter solstice, it will again reverse its movement and begin to rise.
Since the movement of the Earth does not occur in the same way, the solstice epochs can fluctuate by 1-2 days. In the summer, the Sun has more northern declination, so the summer solstice occurs around June 21st. This day marks the beginning of summer. The sun enters the sign of Cancer. In winter, at the greatest declination of the Sun, the winter solstice occurs around December 22. This day is considered the beginning of winter. The sun enters the sign of Capricorn.
During several days of the flowing solstice, the Sun practically does not change its declination, the midday heights in the sky remain unchanged. Hence the name solstice! 
Pagan Sun
The ancient Slavs respected the sun and revered the days when the solstice occurred. These four holidays (two solstices and two equinoxes - Kolyada, Velikden, Kupala and Tausen) were considered among the Slavs as starting points for farming, construction, and other vital matters for society.
Solstice- an astronomical event, the moment of passage of the center of the Sun through the points of the ecliptic, the most distant from the equator of the celestial sphere and called the solstice points.
The position of the Earth in orbit at the moments: summer solstice, winter solstice, autumn equinox and spring equinox
Distinguish winter And summer solstice. UTC (in other time zones, these dates may differ by a day) in the northern hemisphere winter the solstice occurs on December 21 or 22, and summer the solstice occurs on June 21 (in leap years, June 20 or 21). In the southern hemisphere, on the contrary, the December solstice is summer, and June - winter.
The winter solstice is the most short day(with the longest night) in the year in the corresponding hemisphere (except for the region of the pole, where the only night of the year lasts half a year, and the winter solstice is the middle of this polar night). The day of the summer solstice is the longest day (with the shortest night) of the year in the corresponding hemisphere (except for the region of the pole, where the only light day of the year lasts half a year and the summer solstice is the middle of this polar day).
In mid-latitudes during astronomical winter and spring, the point at which the Sun is at noon (more precisely, at true noon) daily rises higher and higher above the horizon, and on the day of the summer solstice “stops” and changes its movement to the opposite. Then every day it falls lower and lower, and, in the end, at the time of the winter solstice, it “stops” again and begins to rise back.
Due to leap shift The dates of the solstice in different years can differ by 1-2 days. Traditionally, the moment of the winter solstice is taken as the beginning of astronomical winter, and the moment of the summer solstice is taken as the beginning of astronomical summer, which is a consequence of the choice for the beginning of astronomical spring or autumn - the day of spring or autumn equinoxes. The astronomical longitude of the sun at these moments is 90° and 270°, respectively.
For several days before and after the moment of the solstice, the Sun almost does not change its declination, its midday heights in the sky are almost unchanged (the height during the year changes according to a graph close to the bell-shaped peak of a sinusoid); hence the very name of the solstice. From observations of the heights of the Sun during both solstices, the inclination of the ecliptic plane to the plane of the celestial equator can be determined.
Point designation
The points of the winter and summer solstices are indicated by zodiac symbols corresponding to the constellations in which they were at the time of Hipparchus: the winter solstice - the sign of Capricorn (♑), the summer solstice - the sign of Cancer (♋). As a result of the prelude of the equinoxes, these points have shifted and are now, respectively, in the constellations of Sagittarius and Taurus, and the point of the summer solstice moved to the constellation of Taurus from the constellation of Gemini relatively recently - in the fall of 1988.
Winter solstice
Winter solstice occurs at the moment when the tilt of the Earth's axis of rotation in the direction from the Sun takes highest value. The maximum angle of inclination of the earth's axis relative to the Sun at the time of the solstice is 23° 26".
Diagram of the seasons in the northern hemisphere of the Earth. Far right: winter solstice
More obvious to residents high latitudes that the winter solstice falls on the shortest day and longest night of the year, when the height of the sun's rise in the sky is at its lowest. Since the winter solstice lasts only a brief moment in time, other names are used for the day when this occurs, for example: "midwinter", "longest night" or "first day of winter".
The seasonal significance of the winter solstice consists in a turn from a gradual lengthening of the night and a shortening of the day to reverse direction. Depending on the calendar shift, the winter solstice occurs on December 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere and on June 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere.
IN different cultures The interpretation of this event was perceived in different ways, but among most peoples it was regarded as a revival, holidays, festivals, meetings, rituals and other celebrations were held at this time.
In 45 BC. e. Julius Caesar In his Julian calendar, he set December 25 for Europe as the date of the winter solstice (lat. Bruma).
Bust of Julius Caesar from the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. Created around the reign of Trajan (beginning of the 2nd century AD)
Since then, due to the difference between the calendar year (365.2500 days) and the tropical year (~365.2421897 days), there has been a shift in the actual astronomical solstice by about three days every four centuries, reaching the date of December 12 in the 16th century. In 1582 the Pope Gregory XIII decided to restore the exact correspondence between the seasons and civil year, but at the same time, he referred not to the era of the Roman emperor, but to the Council of Nicaea in 325, the period of the formation of the main Christian holidays.
Gregory XIII
Thus, the Pope canceled the 10-day error accumulated over the period from the 4th to the 16th century, but did not take into account the 3 days that ran between the 1st and 4th centuries of our era. This calendar adjustment moved the northern hemisphere winter solstice to around December 22nd. So far, the Gregorian solstice has fluctuated by one or two days, and in the long run, there may be an additional shift of one day every 3,000 years.
Historical and cultural significance
The solstices may have been a special moment in the annual cycle, even at times Neolithic.
The Neolithic sign is the Gozek circle. The yellow lines point to sunrise and sunset on the winter solstice.
The astronomical events that have governed the mating of animals, the sowing of crops and the preparation of winter supplies for the next harvest since ancient times show how various cultural myths and traditions came into being. This is evidenced by the layout of late Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites, such as stonehenge in the UK and newgrange in Ireland.
stonehenge
newgrange
The main axes of both of these monuments were carefully aligned with a line of sight indicating sunrise on the winter solstice (Newgrange) and sunset on the winter solstice (Stonehenge). With regard to Stonehenge, it is significant that the Great Trilith is turned outward from the center of the monument, that is, its flat front part is turned towards the middle of winter according to the Sun.
Japanese Sun Goddess Amaterasu emerging from a cave
The winter solstice was extremely important in the life of the primitive community, because people were not sure that they had prepared well for winter during the previous nine months, and that they would be able to survive this winter. Hunger was common during the winter period, from January to April, this stretch of the year is known as the famine months. IN temperate climate the midwinter festival was the last holiday before the hard winter period. Most of the cattle were slaughtered during this time as there was nothing to feed them during the winter, so the time of the winter solstice was the only time of the year when the most was consumed. fresh meat. At that time most of wine and beer, made during the warm season, finally reached readiness, and it was possible to drink it. Festivities were held not only directly on this day, they began at midnight or at dawn, and most often the day before.
Since the winter solstice is a pivotal event in the presence of the Sun in the sky, it gave rise to the widespread concept of the birth or rebirth of the gods. In the culture of many peoples, cyclic calendars are based on the winter solstice, the resurgent year is celebrated, a symbol of “new beginnings”, such as, for example, the cleansing tradition of Hogmanay in Scotland. IN Greek mythology the gods and goddesses met the winter and summer solstices, these days the god Hades was allowed to appear on Mount Olympus (his kingdom was underworld, and at any other time he was not supposed to leave there).
Direct observation of the solstice by amateurs is difficult because the sun moves rather slowly towards the solstice, so it is difficult to determine its particular day, let alone its instant. Knowledge of the time of origin of an event has only recently become possible up to almost an instant thanks to accurate tracking astronomical data. The actual moment of the solstice cannot be detected by definition (it is impossible to notice that the object has stopped moving, it can only be stated that in the current measurement the object has not changed its position compared to the previous measurement, or has moved in the opposite direction). In addition, to determine the event with an accuracy of one day, one must be able to observe changes in azimuth and height less than 1/60 of the angular diameter of the Sun. Similar definition accurate to within two days easier, it requires an observational error of only about 1/16 of the Sun's angular diameter. Thus, most observations state the day of the solstice, and not its instant. Often this is done by observing the sunrise and sunset, with an astronomically calibrated instrument that ensures that a beam of light passes to a certain point at exactly the right time.
Sunrise between the stones at Stonehenge on the winter solstice in the mid 1980s
Summer solstice
Summer solstice occurs at the moment when the inclination of the Earth's axis of rotation in the direction from the Sun takes on the smallest value.
Diagram of the seasons in the northern hemisphere of the Earth. Top left position: summer solstice
It is more obvious to those living at high latitudes that the summer solstice falls on the longest day and shortest night of the year, when the height of the sun's rise in the sky is at its highest. Since the summer solstice lasts only a brief moment in time, other names are used for the day when the summer solstice occurs, for example: "midsummer", "longest day" or "first day of summer".
Depending on the calendar shift, the summer solstice occurs on June 20 or 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and on December 21 or 22 in the Southern Hemisphere.
The day is widely celebrated by different nations.
Equinox
Equinox - an astronomical phenomenon, which is the moment when the center of the Sun in its apparent movement along the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator.
When observing the Earth from space, on the equinox, the terminator passes through geographic poles Earth and perpendicular to the Earth's equator.
The celestial equator is tilted 23°26' to the plane of the ecliptic
Celestial equator- a great circle of the celestial sphere, the plane of which is perpendicular to the axis of the world and coincides with the plane of the earth's equator. The celestial equator divides the celestial sphere into two hemispheres: North hemisphere, with its apex at the north celestial pole, and Southern Hemisphere, with a peak at the south celestial pole. The constellations through which the celestial equator passes are called equatorial.
Since the axis of rotation of the Earth deviates from the perpendicular to the plane of the earth's orbit by 23 ° 26 ', the plane of the celestial equator is inclined at the same angle to the plane of the ecliptic. The ecliptic intersects with the celestial equator at the spring and autumn equinoxes.
The celestial equator is the basis of the equatorial system of celestial coordinates: the declination is measured from it (similar to geographical latitude, measured from the earth's equator). Another coordinate of this system - right ascension (analogous to geographic longitude) - is measured from the vernal equinox.
Distinguish spring And autumn equinox. UTC (in other time zones, these dates may differ by a day) in the northern hemisphere spring the equinox occurs on March 20, when the sun moves from the southern hemisphere to the northern, and autumn the equinox occurs on September 22 or 23, when the sun passes from northern hemisphere to the south. In the southern hemisphere, on the contrary, the March equinox is considered autumn and the September spring.
On the days of the equinox on the entire surface of the Earth (excluding the regions of the earth's poles), the day is almost equal to the night ("almost": on the days of the equinox on the entire surface of the Earth, the day is somewhat more night; the reasons for this are atmospheric refraction, which somewhat "raises" the solar disk for the observer, and the fact that the length of the day is determined as the difference between the moments of sunset and sunrise, which, in turn, are determined by the position top edge the solar disk relative to the horizon, while the equinox is viewed relative to center solar disk). On the equinoxes, the sun rises almost exactly in the east (a few north east) and sets almost due west (slightly north of west).
At the time when the day longer than the night, approximately from the spring to the autumn equinox, the Sun rises northeast and sets northwest (strictly speaking, this period begins shortly before the spring equinox and ends shortly after the autumn equinox), and during the period when the day is shorter than the night, which lasts approximately from autumn to spring equinox, the Sun rises south of the east and sets south of the west (strictly speaking, this period begins shortly after the autumnal equinox and ends shortly before the spring equinox).
The points of intersection of the celestial equator with the ecliptic are called equinox points. Because of the ellipticity of its orbit, the Earth moves from the autumnal equinox to the spring equinox rather than from the spring to the autumnal equinox. Due to the precession of the earth's axis mutual arrangement the equator and ecliptic are slowly changing; this phenomenon is called before the equinoxes. During the year, the position of the equator changes so that the Sun arrives at the equinox 20 minutes 24 seconds earlier than the Earth completes a complete orbit. As a result, the position of the equinoxes changes to celestial sphere. From the point of the vernal equinox, right ascensions are counted along the celestial equator, longitudes along the ecliptic. Determining the position of this fictitious point on the celestial sphere is one of the main tasks of practical astronomy. The points of the spring and autumn equinoxes are indicated by the symbols of the zodiac corresponding to the constellations in which they were located at the time of Hipparchus (as a result of the prelude of the equinoxes, these points have shifted and are now, respectively, in the constellations of Pisces and Virgo): the spring equinox - the sign of Aries (♈), the autumn equinoxes are the sign of Libra (♎).
In addition, both equinoxes are a feature that changes the correlation vector of latitude with duration daylight hours to the opposite. That is, in the period from the spring equinox to the autumn daylight hours in more than northern latitude surpasses that in the more southern, and in the period from autumn to spring, on the contrary.
The spring and autumn equinoxes are considered the astronomical beginning of the seasons of the same name. The interval between two equinoxes of the same name is called tropical year, which is used to measure time. A tropical year is approximately 365.2422 solar days, so the equinox falls on different time days, moving forward each time by almost 6 hours. The Julian year has 365¼ days. The intercalary day of a leap year returns the equinox to the previous number of the year. But the tropical year is slightly shorter than the Julian one, and the equinox is actually slowly receding in the Julian calendar. In the Gregorian chronology, due to the omission of 3 days in 400 years, it is almost motionless (the average Gregorian year is 365.2425 days).
The modern Gregorian calendar is designed so that the equinoxes fall on the same dates over the long term. However, slight fluctuations in the dates of the equinoxes do occur. Most early dates equinoxes occur in leap years, and the latest equinoxes occur in years before leap years.
During the existence of the Gregorian calendar, the record-breaking early equinoxes occurred in 1696: March 19, 15:5 pm - spring and September 22, 3:8 pm - autumn; and the latest in 1903: March 21, 19:15 - spring and September 24, 5:45 - autumn.
In the next 100 years, the earliest equinoxes will be in 2096: March 19, 14:07, spring and September 21, 22:58, autumn (which will be a record of early equinoxes for 400 years); and the latest in 2103 on March 21, 6:27 am - spring and September 23, 15:28 - autumn.
Speaking about the dates of the equinox, one should distinguish between the date according to universal time and the date for a specific time zone: if the equinox occurred before 24:00 universal time, in countries located west of the zero meridian, the next day has not yet arrived and local time will be considered the onset equinoxes 1 day earlier; if the equinox came after 24:00 UTC, then in countries located east of the zero meridian, the next day will already come and the date of the equinox will be 1 more.
It should also be noted that according to the plan of the creators of the Gregorian calendar, the “official” date of the spring equinox is March 21 (literally “12th day before the April kalends”), because such a date of the spring equinox was at the time of the Council of Nicaea.
The last time in this century the vernal equinox fell on March 21st in 2007 and will fall on March 20th or even March 19th in the 21st century.
The peoples and religions that New Year starts at the equinox
Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Bahai-Navruz, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan.
The bas-relief in Persepolis - a symbol of the Zoroastrian Navruz - on the day of the spring equinox, the forces of the eternally fighting bull, personifying the Earth, and the lion, personifying the Sun, are equal
Leap year
Leap year (lat. bis sextus- "second sixth") - a year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the duration of which is 366 days - for one day more duration ordinary, non-leap year. In the Julian calendar, a leap year is every fourth year; in the Gregorian calendar, there are exceptions to this rule.
Introduction history
From January 1, 45 BC. e. Roman dictator Gaius Julius Caesar introduced a calendar designed by Alexandrian astronomers led by Sosigenes, which was based on the fact that astronomical year approximately equal to 365.25 days (365 days and 6 hours). This calendar is called Julian. In order to equalize the six-hour offset, the leap year. Three years were counted as 365 days, and in each year, a multiple of four, one additional day was added in February.
In the Roman calendar, days were counted in relation to the following kalendam(first day of the month) nonam(5th or 7th day) and idam(13th or 15th day of the month). So, the day of February 24 was designated as ante diem sextum calendas martii("the sixth day before the March kalends"). Caesar decided to add a second sixth by February ( bis sextus) the day before the March calendars, that is, the second day of February 24th. February was chosen as last month Roman year. The first leap year was 45 BC. e.
Caesar was killed two years after the introduction of the new calendar, the second leap year began after his death. Perhaps this explains the fact that the priests who were responsible for the functioning of the calendar did not understand the principle of introducing an additional day every fourth year, and instead began to introduce an additional day in February every third year (it is assumed that they counted the fourth from the year preceding the leap year) . For 36 years after Caesar, there was a leap year every third year, and only then the emperor Augustus restored correct order following leap years (and also canceled several subsequent leap years to remove the accumulated incremental shift). From a comparison of Roman and Egyptian dates in a papyrus found in 1999, it was found that leap years in Rome were 44, 41, 38, 35,32, 29, 26, 23, 20, 17, 14, 11, 8 years before n. e., 4, 8, 12 and thereafter every fourth year.
Gregorian calendar
The length of the tropical year (the time between the two vernal equinoxes) is 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 46 seconds. The difference in the duration of the tropical year and the average Julian calendar year (365.25 days) is 11 minutes 14 seconds. Of these 11 minutes and 14 seconds, approximately 128 years add up to one day.
After several centuries, a shift in the day of the vernal equinox was noticed, with which church holidays. TO XVI century the spring equinox came about 10 days earlier than March 21, used to determine the day of Easter.
To compensate for the accumulated error and avoid such a shift in the future, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar. To mean calendar year better matched the solar, it was decided to change the rule for leap years. As before, a year was a leap year, the number of which is a multiple of four, but an exception was made for those that were a multiple of 100. Such years were leap years only when they were also divided by 400.
In other words, a year is a leap year in two cases: either it is a multiple of 4, but not a multiple of 100, or it is a multiple of 400. A year is not a leap year if it is not a multiple of 4, or it is a multiple of 100, but not a multiple of 400.
The last years of centuries, ending in two zeros, in three cases of the four are not leap years. So, the years 1700, 1800 and 1900 are not leap years, since they are a multiple of 100 and not a multiple of 400. The years 1600 and 2000 are leap years, since they are a multiple of 400. The years 2100, 2200 and 2300 are not leap years. In leap years, an extra day is introduced - February 29.
The last leap year was 2012, the next one will be 2016.
Jewish calendar
In the Jewish calendar, a leap year is a year to which a month is added, not a day. The reason for this is that the Hebrew calendar is based on lunar month, and so a year of twelve months lags the astronomical solar year by about 11 days. For equating lunar years to solar year a leap year of thirteen months was introduced. The 19-year cycle includes 12 common years and 7 leap years.
Engraving by William Hogarth with the slogan "Give us back our eleven days!", 1755