SOLSTICE

21 December 2012

The progression of daylight on either side of Solstice ...

Date           Sunrise     Sunset    Length of Day  Difference 
-----------    --------    --------  -------------  ---------- 
18-Dec-2012    10:57:00    14:39:00    3h 42m 32s    − 1m 02s    
19-Dec-2012    10:57:00    14:39:00    3h 41m 51s    − 41s      
20-Dec-2012    10:58:00    14:40:00    3h 41m 30s    − 21s       
21-Dec-2012    10:59:00    14:40:00    3h 41m 29s    < 1s        
22-Dec-2012    10:59:00    14:41:00    3h 41m 48s    + 19s       
23-Dec-2012    10:59:00    14:42:00    3h 42m 28s    + 39s      
24-Dec-2012    10:59:00    14:43:00    3h 43m 27s    + 59s        
25-Dec-2012    10:59:00    14:44:00    3h 44m 47s    + 1m 19s   

Instead of just posting the sunrise/sunset times as I have for the year, I included the range of days where the change in daylight was less than a minute.  The website I use to track the length of the day is The World Clock, for anyone interested in viewing sunrise/sunset and difference in the length of the day for different time zones.  The most comprehensive and reliable sources, as I mentioned earlier this year, are naval astronomy charts posted by the U.S. Navy, but for most locales, this works.


The day was clear, but ice fog hung in over the valley during the early hours, thickened considerably near midday, and then unexpectedly disappeared around 4 PM.   I stepped outside in sharply cold temperatures to wait for the sunrise.  It began to brighten blowing shafts of moisture laden air a little east of where it finally emerged from behind the mountains; I could not stop taking photos of it, so I've collected them in a slide show: Solstice Sunrise 2012.  Once I started back into the office, I realized how really, really cold it was!

When the sun was nearly due south, I walked out to take another photo as the sun bounced along the top of the mountains to the south.

The sun appears to float above the ice fog

I became engrossed in work and missed sunset by over an hour, but at that time another interesting visual phenomenon of arctic and sub-arctic regions was on the horizon.  The layers of ice crystals stratify over the valley, creating a mirage as the mountains in the distance flatten out at the edge of the top most layer.

Distortions of the mountain peaks

In the distance, Denali sits on her bench alone, clearly visible to all who care to see.  And even though my view of her was distorted today, I still cherish each glimpse.  

Denali as seen through sub-arctic refracted rays