174. Dark days during the winter solstice
I wrote about the White Nights and the summer solstice back in June, to illustrate what one of the "longest days" of the year looks like. I thought I would do the same thing for the "longest nights" of the year, which occur during the Black Nights period in December (although people use this term much less frequently than White Nights - perhaps because it might repel potential tourists). Unlike with the White Nights, where some amount of light remains visible around the clock, there is actually a distinct difference between night and day during the Black Nights. The change in the light throughout the year at 59.9343° North latitude is quite dramatic.
This year's winter solstice was Thursday, December 21 (it's always on December 21 or 22, I think, but of course the day of the week varies from one year to the next). That was the day I left St. Petersburg to return to the United States, so I was pleased to live in Russia this year on the two days with the most and the least amount of sunlight. However, my time of departure made it impossible to document the sunlight on the winter solstice itself, so I made sure to take pictures during the week leading up to Thursday.
During the entire week, there were fewer than six hours between sunrise and sunset each day. This wasn't a big deal in the evenings; I'm used to it being dark in the wintertime in Colorado when I leave the office. What took some adjusting to in November and December in St. Petersburg was the fact that I got out of bed approximately four hours before the sun rose each morning. On the solstice itself, the sun rose at 10:00 am sharp (long after my flight had departed for Frankfurt, Germany) and set at 3:54 pm - for a total of 5 hours 54 minutes of sunlight that day.
The images below are from Saturday, December 16; Sunday, December 17; and Wednesday, December 20 (so I did not do quite as much sightseeing in a single day as the sequence of images might suggest). Fortunately, I remembered to wear my trusty Raketa 24-hour Polar wristwatch, so it is clear in looking back at these pictures whether I took them in the morning or the evening. Otherwise, it might be anyone's guess!
9:23 am (Vladimirskaya Ploshchad):
9:56 am (Moskovskaya Ploshchad):
11:01 am (Catherine Palace, Tsarskoye Selo):
3:50 pm (Arsenal Pavilion, Alexander Park, Pushkin):
4:12 pm (Catherine Palace, Tsarskoye Selo):
4:15 pm (Catherine Park, Tsarskoye Selo):
4:28 pm (Millionnaya Ulitsa, as seen from the Winter Palace):
4:40 pm (Palace Embankment, as seen from the Winter Palace):
4:53 pm (Fontanka River):
This year's winter solstice was Thursday, December 21 (it's always on December 21 or 22, I think, but of course the day of the week varies from one year to the next). That was the day I left St. Petersburg to return to the United States, so I was pleased to live in Russia this year on the two days with the most and the least amount of sunlight. However, my time of departure made it impossible to document the sunlight on the winter solstice itself, so I made sure to take pictures during the week leading up to Thursday.
During the entire week, there were fewer than six hours between sunrise and sunset each day. This wasn't a big deal in the evenings; I'm used to it being dark in the wintertime in Colorado when I leave the office. What took some adjusting to in November and December in St. Petersburg was the fact that I got out of bed approximately four hours before the sun rose each morning. On the solstice itself, the sun rose at 10:00 am sharp (long after my flight had departed for Frankfurt, Germany) and set at 3:54 pm - for a total of 5 hours 54 minutes of sunlight that day.
The images below are from Saturday, December 16; Sunday, December 17; and Wednesday, December 20 (so I did not do quite as much sightseeing in a single day as the sequence of images might suggest). Fortunately, I remembered to wear my trusty Raketa 24-hour Polar wristwatch, so it is clear in looking back at these pictures whether I took them in the morning or the evening. Otherwise, it might be anyone's guess!
9:23 am (Vladimirskaya Ploshchad):
9:56 am (Moskovskaya Ploshchad):
11:01 am (Catherine Palace, Tsarskoye Selo):
3:50 pm (Arsenal Pavilion, Alexander Park, Pushkin):
4:12 pm (Catherine Palace, Tsarskoye Selo):
4:15 pm (Catherine Park, Tsarskoye Selo):
4:28 pm (Millionnaya Ulitsa, as seen from the Winter Palace):
4:40 pm (Palace Embankment, as seen from the Winter Palace):
4:53 pm (Fontanka River):
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