MIDNIGHT SUN: Last week on Dønna Island, Norway, photographer Andreas D. Skjervold decided to photograph the sunset. "I set my camera upon a hill 128m above sea level--and waited," he says. "But the sun never set." Here is the picture he took at midnight:
This apparition of the midnight sun is a bit of a puzzle because "Dønna Island is 40 km south of the Arctic circle," points out Skjervold. What happened?
Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley has the answer: "Three effects made this unexpected midnight sun," he explains. "Firstly, the horizon dips lower the higher you climb. Even a few hundred feet have a surprisingly large effect. Secondly, the atmosphere acts like a giant lens which raises upwards the sun and stars near the horizon. Something else is happening, air temperature gradients have miraged the sun almost into a line and helped duct its light around the horizon. A far more extreme form of mirage ducting is the Novaya Zemlya effect where the sun rises quite unexpectedly during the long arctic night - another form of midnight sun!"
Off Topic » in reply to re: Hee Hee..you could've asked me to please explain;)
Midnight Sun