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By JANE BANGLEY
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
March 20 was the firxt day of spring for 1985 despite a return of cooler temperatures during the week. The first day of spring is determined by calculating when the sun will be at the vernal, or spring, equinox.
Equinox refers to the time when the sun’s center crosses the equator and day and night are of equal length. The equinox usually occurs on March 21, but can be the day before due to variations in the earth’s movements from year to year.
In The American Book of Days, edited by Jane M. Hatch, the first day of spring is also described as the first season of the astronomical year. “In antiquity the start of the year was often reckoned from the vernal equinox, which was also chosen as the point from which to calculate-in an eastward direction-the 12 zodiacal constellations, starting with Aries.”
The movement of the vernal equinox westward each year was discovered by Hipparcus, “the second century B.C. Greek astronomer w’hose calculations form the groundwork of the present zodiacal system....” The vernal equinox was the first point of Aries in Hipparcus’s time, but is now in the constellation of Pisces.
"In the Northern Hemisphere,
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