Vernal Equinox 2019: Google Doodles Celebrate as Earth's Seasons Change

Google is celebrating the vernal equinox with Google Doodles illustrating the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.
Google is celebrating the vernal equinox with Google Doodles illustrating the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. (Image credit: Google)

The seasons change on Earth today, and Google is getting into the equinox spirit with a pair of doodles to celebrate the yearly milestone. 

Today, March 20, marks the the vernal equinox, when the sun passes over Earth's equator (from our perspective on the planet) and the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun. That leads to longer days (and the start of spring!) in the north and shorter days (and autumn) in the south.

To celebrate the seasonal change, Google created two doodles: one celebrating the first at of spring for the Northern Hemisphere, and other for the first day of fall in the Southern Hemisphere.

A new Google Doodle celebrates the beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. (Image credit: Google)

Today also marks the full moon of March, called the full Worm Moon. 

Tonight's full moon occurs at 9:43 p.m. EDT (0143 March 21 GMT) and will be the third and final "supermoon" of 2019, according to NASA. The space agency describes supermoons as a full moon that occurs near perigee, the closest point to Earth in the moon's monthly orbit.

So, celebrate the first day of spring (or fall, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere) with a look at the "Super Worm Equinox Moon" tonight!

Editor's note: If you capture an amazing photo or video of the Super Worm Equinox Moon and would like to share it with Space.com for a story or gallery, send images and comments to spacephotos@space.com

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.  

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Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the award-winning Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001. He covers human spaceflight, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He's a recipient of the 2022 Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting and the 2025 Space Pioneer Award from the National Space Society. He is an Eagle Scout and Space Camp alum with journalism degrees from the USC and NYU. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.