Spring gets its official start Friday in the Northern Hemisphere with the arrival of the vernal equinox. But what does that mean? The Earth's axis is tilted at an angle as it travels around the sun. On the equinox, the Earth's tilt is neither toward nor away from the sun, so both hemispheres get the same amount of sunlight. This means day and night last about the same amount of time. It also marks the start of a new season. Days will get a little longer every day in the Northern Hemisphere until the solstice in June.
Sunday marks the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, signaling the start of astronomical winter. In the Southern Hemisphere, it's the longest day, marking the beginning of summer. The term "solstice" comes from Latin, meaning the sun's "pause" in its annual path. After the winter solstice, the sun begins to climb higher, and days gradually lengthen until late June. Solstices have been celebrated for ages, with monuments like Stonehenge aligning with the sun's paths. The equinox, in contrast, is when both hemispheres receive equal sunlight, leading to nearly equal day and night lengths.
It's almost time to catch summer's double meteor showers. The Southern Delta Aquariid and Alpha Capricornid meteor showers peak in the early morning of July 30. With minimal interference from moonlight, the meteors should appear bright and clear if viewed away from city lights. Each shower is expected to produce up to a dozen visible meteors per hour. The Alpha Capricornids may have tails that linger longer in the night sky. Viewing of each shower lasts through August 12. The next major meteor shower, the Perseids, will peak in mid-August.
Astronomers have discovered a strange new object in our Milky Way galaxy. The celestial object is emitting X-rays around the same time it's shooting out radio waves. Located 15,000 light-years away, scientists say this object could be a star, pair of stars or something else entirely. Findings were published Wednesday in the journal Nature. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory spotted the X-ray emissions by chance last year while focusing on a supernova remnant, or the remains of an exploded star. The hyperactive phase of this object appeared to last about a month.
