The dark
Noon, in the polar night.
The sun set in October and has not been back. Turn the year, and bring it up.
Some of what you find along the way can be kept for your plan.
Aurora over LongyearbyenAurora over Longyearbyen
The blue
The light comes back before the sun does.At midday, a band of rose stands in the south.
Sea ice at the mouth of Billefjorden, in FebruaryThe moon in the polar twilight, Svalbard
The return
A seam of orange, at noon.Then whole days of it, and the dogs want to run.By late April it has stopped setting.
The mountains hide it from the town until the eighth of March. Everyone goes out to look.
The sun returning after the polar night, near LongyearbyenFrom the sled, SvalbardSvalbard reindeer on the snow
The long day
Now turn the clock.
Below the glacier, Kongsfjord
The edge
North, until the sea turns white.Somewhere on it, perhaps, a bear.Asleep. It has not noticed you, which is the point.
Ice from aboveA polar bear asleep among the iceA polar bear asleep among the ice
Scroll, or draw the sun along the year
bear
The year in figuresThe dates behind the light, for those who like to know them.
- The last sunset of the year
- about 25 October
- No twilight at noon
- about 14 November to 29 January
- The sun over the horizon again
- about 16 February
- First seen from Longyearbyen
- 8 March
- The sun does not set
- about 20 April to 23 August
- Noon sun at midsummer
- Midnight sun at midsummer
- Longyearbyen
- 78°13′N 015°38′E
Figures for 78.2°N, at sea level. Mountains keep the sun from the town a little longer. The aurora needs a dark, clear sky. Neither it nor a bear is ever certain.
