Current time is: Sunday, February 05 01h42m PDT (Vancouver), Sunday, February 05 08h42m UTC (UK/Iceland), Sunday, February 05 14h12m IST (India)
| Event | Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) | Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) | India Standard Time (IST) |
It might be that some times are given above in Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) where it would be more appropriate to give the time in Pacific Standard Time (PST). Or vice versa. If this is the case, subtract one hour from the PDT time to get the PST time, or add one hour to go the other direction.
Note: Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is commonly called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) although, strictly speacking, this usage is historically and astronomically incorrect.
The "Effective Equinox" is the night that is closest to being 12 hours long, hence "Equi-nox", "Equal Night". This is always before the Astronomical Equinox in the Spring and after the Astronomical Equinox in the Fall. The time given is the time of sunset at the beginning of the Equal Night. The difference in dates is due to atmospheric refraction and the fact that the Sun is not a point source of light. It also varies with latitude.
As an example, for Vancouver in March of 2010, on the day of the true Equinox (March 20th), the day is nearly 20 minutes longer than the previous night and nearly 27 minutes longer than the following night. However, on the date of the Effective Equinox (March 17th), the day is less than 3 minutes shorter than the previous night and about one minute longer than the following night.
Occasionally, times for solar eclipses are given above, but in general these will not be seen in Vancouver. Please refer to the Eclipse Web Site at NASA for complete information.