A celestial trifecta welcomes in the change of seasons
The Sun, the moon, and Google are celebrating the official start of spring — this year’s vernal equinox on March 20 will include a solar eclipse, a supermoon and a stop-animation Google Doodle.
As TIME wrote last year, the vernal equinox is when “earth’s axis is angled such that the world gets an equal amount of daylight and night,” signaling the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
This year’s spring begins with a celestial bang. Most of Europe and parts of northern Africa and Asia will be treated with a partial solar eclipse and the few inhabitants of the Danish Faroe Islands and Norway’s Svalbard archipelago will be lucky enough to witness a total eclipse. Or, you can watch a streaming broadcast here.
In parts of Europe, Google is adding an animated eclipse to their Doodle.
Fans hoping for a grandiose stargazing experience will be disappointed to learn that the supermoon, when our moon’s elliptical orbit reaches its closest point to earth, will be invisible because a new moon is required for a solar eclipse.
The Google Doodle welcomes springtime with a lovely line of flowers that grow and bloom before a bumblebee lands in the middle to collect pollen.
