It’s equinox time again, and this March 2012 equinox will take place at precisely 5:14 a.m. GMT, or Universal Time. That’s the time of Greenwich, England, which basically gives the standard time for the entire world. But the thing is, our clocks say different times, depending on where we are. If you’re in the United States of example, this year’s equinox will occur on 19 March, at approximately midnight – depending on where in the US you actually are. It will be at 10:14 p.m. tonight on the U.S. west coast and at 7:14 p.m. in Hawaii.

Imagine this in 3D to understand when the equinox occurs.

Each year has two equinoxes, in the Spring and in the Autumn. They mark the moment when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth’s equator. The name ‘equinox’ comes from Latin, as ‘equi’ means ‘equal’ and ‘nox’ means ‘night’ – because at equinox, the day and the night have approximately the same length. Typically, the equinox marks the first real day of the spring (or autumn), depending on your position from the Equator (north or south)