The vernal (or spring) equinox occurs just after 7 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, March 20. If you live in the United States or other places in earth’s Northern Hemisphere, spring began for you at that time.

The Latin word equinox means “equal night.” On the day of an equinox, daytime and nighttime are almost the exact same length. This will happen again on the autumnal equinox in exactly one half year.

Why doesn’t every day have equal parts day and night?

This constantly changing variation in the length of daytime is actually caused by the same thing that gives us changing seasons: the tilt in the earth’s axis.

The earth spins on an axis that has an angle which is 23.5 degrees different from the angle of the path the earth makes around the sun.

Here’s a longer explanation:

Night and day are caused by the rotation of the earth on its axis. Sometimes your part of the earth is facing the sun (day), and sometimes your part is facing away (night). One rotation takes about twenty-four hours.

Meanwhile, the earth is traveling around the sun in a path called an orbit. One full orbit takes one full year.

If the angle of the earth’s orbit and the angle of the earth’s equator were the same, the sun’s rays would hit all of the places of the earth the same way all year long. In addition, every place on earth would have one never-ending season with temperatures that got colder as you moved further from the equator.

However, our orbit and our equator don’t line up. The earth is tilted on its axis. For half a year’s time, the bottom half (Southern Hemisphere) of the earth gets more sun than the top half (Northern Hemisphere). During the next six months, the top half gets more. The vernal equinox begins six months of longer and warmer days for the Northern Hemisphere.

Learn more about the seasons of the year from NASA.

If you’re planning a long trip—or even a short local trip—to see fall colors, check out the U.S. Forest Service’s Fall Colors 2012.

You can view webcams that show scenic views in a few states; call the hotline to get predictions about fall colors; get ideas about activities for kids; learn about the science behind fall colors; and more.

Summer begins today! Learn about the summer solstice and why we have seasons from the National Weather Service.

Learn more about the seasons.

On Sunday, Daylight Saving Time officially ends at 2:00 a.m. local time. You’ll need to set your clock back one hour to adjust for the change.

Daylight Saving Time ends on the first Sunday of November, and begins on the second Sunday in March. Not all places in the United States observe Daylight Saving Time. In particular, Hawaii and most of Arizona do not use it, so if you live in those areas, you don’t have to change your clocks.

Standard time was instituted in the United States and Canada by the railroads in 1883, however, Daylight Saving Time was not established in U.S. law until the Act of March 19, 1918, sometimes called the Standard Time Act.

Learn more about Daylight Saving Time.