Today, September 14, 2011, is the vernal equinox for the northern hemisphere of Mars!
If you want to be technical, it's the time when the axis of Martian rotation is perpendicular to the direction of the Sun, and the northern hemisphere is headed into summer (making it the autumnal equinox for the southern hemisphere). When this happens here on Earth, it's called the first day of spring (here in the US at least, in other countries it's considered the middle of the season -- a tradition with which I agree). Mars, like Earth, is tilted with respect to its orbit around the Sun; Earth is canted at an angle of roughly 23°, while Mars is at 25°. That's why we (and Mars) have seasons! Over the course of the year, the angle of sunlight hitting the surface of the planet changes, heating it more efficiently in the summer and less ...
