[This article has been updated for 2020’s vernal equinox. Sync your calendar with the solar system.]

Bees buzzing, flowers blooming and birds singing are some telltale signs that spring is upon us. But do you ever wonder what the season looks like from space?

This image from the Meteosat-9 satellite shows Earth on the vernal equinox in 2011, the official start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. This year, that day fell on Thursday, March 19.

The spring equinox is a point in Earth’s orbit where the sun shines directly above the Equator, creating nearly equal periods of daytime and nighttime across the globe.