Arctic Report

Talking seasons: The last direct sun rays of this year.

Why was Ny-Ålesund built on the North side of our mountainy peninsula? Or why not on the other side of the fjord? The sun does not fully set yet, but Ny-Ålesund does not receive sunlight anymore since around two weeks. The last two not-working weekends were therefore under the spell of “chasing the sun”. Last weekend’s trip took us by boat towards the other side of the fjord. Frozen beaches, frozen rivers, direct sunlight, enormous shadows all day long and enormous foot prints from Mme bear were waiting for us there. In retrospective, those were probably the last direct sunrays for me of this year. On October the 9th, around 16:30h, this precious light hit my face for the last time in 2021. How weird. So dear sun, I wrote you a little poem. See you soon, my favourite star of the universe.

Bye,
bye Sun,
I thank you
for all the fun,
you lit up our days,
with your shiny sun rays.
Soon you disappear,
we will wait here.
See you soon,
Bye Sun,
bye.

Long long shadows all day long
Walking on the last sunshine
Snowy canyons and Ruben in the foreground, Prins-Karls-Forland in the background
Frozen rivers and snowy canyons
Sunset on Tønsneset
Bye sun.
Oh, by the way, the bears are still around.
Well hello! Where are you going to?

5 thoughts on “Talking seasons: The last direct sun rays of this year.

  1. Great pictures again and a nice, little bit sad story… but the beauty of darkness will reveil it self soon. Take care!

  2. Very beautiful and special pictures, Fieke! It’s becoming time now for ‘The Moonlight Serenade’.
    Enjoy the magnificent lights in the sky!

  3. Hahaha —

    Bye bye sun, see you in a little while.

    Hello bear, smell you round, maybe.

    I wonder, is the moon still visible at your latitude around the changing of the years? Or just other sky things?

    1. Yes, the moon is visible (and very beautiful). It will actually light up the dark Arctic in the winter months quite a bit, especially with the reflection of the moonlight on the snow. And then there are stars and auroras. Could be worse 🙂

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