Today, Google Doodle celebrates the beginning of spring 2021 in Northern Hemisphere with an animated hedgehog.
The 2021 Spring Season starts on March 20 and ends on June 21. March 20 is the first day of the spring season, or Spring Equinox, which is a day when the day and night are equal in length.
Equinox is a word that comes from the Latin for equal and night. The nighttime and daytime will be equal (12 hours each) almost everywhere in the world.
Spring equinox is also called the March equinox or the vernal equinox. The vernal equinox was derived from the word “vernal,” which translates to “new” and “fresh,” according to the Farmers’ Almanac.
In most cultures across the world, the start of spring is considered a time of rebirth and renewal. Some major religious holidays, including Passover and Easter, are celebrated after the spring equinox, according to NJ.com.
Google Doodle marks spring 2021 with an animated hedgehog that has flowers instead of spikes on its back. The doodle also shows honeybees buzzing around and red and blue flowers spelling out the word Google.
Typically, spring equinox is used to mark the change of seasons, as the balance of light shifts to make days longer than nights, which marks the end of the winter season and informs people about the arrival of warmer days.
According to Indian Express, on the day of the equinox, the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west. At other times in the year, it appears off-center, if you’re facing those directions. Every year, we see two equinoxes – in March and September. “The March equinox marks the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator — the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator — from south to north and vice versa in September,” says Indian Express.
