Spring arrives Tuesday at 1:14 am with the Vernal Equinox although the weather we are currently experiencing makes it feel more like summer!  It never fails this is the time of year that someone will send in a photo of an egg standing on end (and new this year brooms, see below!) and say it has to do with the equinox.  Don’t believe everything you see or hear as this is bad science! 

Earth is tilted on its rotational axis. That is what causes the seasons. There are two days each year when the Sun is directly overhead from the equator at noon. On the fall equinox in September the Sun appears to move southward in the sky so that it will soon be more directly overhead in the southern hemisphere. It is the first day of fall in the northern hemisphere and the first day of spring in the southern hemisphere. On the spring, or vernal, equinox in March, the Sun appears to be moving northward in the sky. It will become more directly overhead in the northern hemisphere signaling the northern spring and southern fall.

The Sun is so distant that any difference in its gravitational or tidal forces between the equinoxes and other days is completely insignificant. There is absolutely no physical mechanism that can make it easier to balance an egg on the equinox than on any other day.

Yes it is possible, with effort, to balance an egg on the equinox. With the same care it is also possible to balance an egg on any other day. The equinox signals the first day of either fall or spring. There is otherwise nothing special about the equinox to make an egg balance on its end.

This year there seems to be a new wrinkle to the legend as pictures of brooms standing on end circulate via social media.  People claim that the arrival of the equinox also brought special broom balancing properties with it.  Of course this absolutely ridiculous!  Just like eggs, many brooms can be stood on their ends any old day of the year.  This is especially true with newer brooms that have evenly cut bristles.