Use the Equionox for Orientation

The Equinoxes are the perfect time to get oriented!  The sun rises due east, and sets due west, no matter where on the globe you are. Try to find a good, consistent place to check this orientation right at sunrise and sunset (e.g. from your front door) and you’ll have a better sense of where in the world you are.

The Equinox is an exact moment when the sun shines directly above the Earth’s equator. The 2018 March Equinox is at 16:15 UTC on Tuesday, the 20th of March.  At that time, the sun will be directly overhead at Latitude: 0° 00′ (by definition), Longitude: 61° 38′ West. This puts it over South America, along the Itapara River, not far from where the Rio Negro meets the Amazon River. This is in the northern reaches of the Amazon rain forest, the largest rainforest in the world today.