It's finally that time of year - the start of Spring! The vernal equinox takes place at 11:15am this morning, marking the point when the equator is directly under the sun's rays.
This is also one of two times in the year when the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward or away from the sun. This means the sun will shine equally on the northern and southern hemispheres. This creates nearly 12 hours of day, and 12 hours of night for the majority of the planet. In Rockford the sun rose at 7:00am this morning and will set at 7:09pm. 
The sun will be over the equator at noon but we say 'nearly equal' due to something called refraction. This is when there is a bending of the sun light's rays, which causes the sun to appear above the horizon when in fact the sun in below the horizon!
As we head through Spring, we'll notice the days becoming a little longer at the higher latitudes because it takes the sun longer to rise and set. By the start of summer the sun will rise at 5:20am and will set at 8:36am.
Photo: NASA
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