Groundhog Day. Just a bizarre tradition involving rodents? Or, rather, marmots? Actually, Groundhog Day is full of amazing sky-related stuff. Even its date relates to the heavens. Held on February 2, this was traditionally the holiday of Candlemas, which marked the exact midpoint of winter.
Midpoint of Winter
If you now count the days between winter’s start on the solstice of December 21, and the beginning of spring on the March 20 vernal equinox, you’ll see that, yes, February 2 comes very... more
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