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If one wants to experience periods of true white nights, then he has to go from 59°-60°N northwards; specifically from 62°-63° (the latitude of cities like Trondheim or Kuopio) it becomes possible to keep the lights off inside the houses all through the night with clear skies.
Nah, not really. I've spent time it my friend's summer cottage at 64N and you definitely need artificial light inside during the night, as the weak light out don't light up a house sufficiently no matter how big the windows are. Outside you can move without light, though.
I think that considering that time of year is coming up again there are enough people on this forum who live in the mid-50s latitudes upwards for us to be able to go by personal observations of what we can see rather than argue about precise definitions of different stages of twilight.
I live fractionally below 54 N, and on clear nights near the solstice the northern horizon is bright enough that the outlines of clouds are illuminated and there is a mauve tint to part of the sky. Some nights have it brighter than others and there is more to how bright the midnight sky is than just how close you are to the solstice. Essentially it is still dark for all practical purposes, and you have to go looking for the light to really notice it, and you won't notice anything at all on an overcast night, but there is something there, and something that I couldn't notice living in the south of England at 51.5 N, so I believe the effect starts to become noticeable somewhere near the 53rd parallel.
I can just perceive it here at 52.75 degrees. For a few weeks either side of the solstice there's a blue tinge to the sky due north at local midnight (about 1am BST) which is noticeably brighter than in other directions, but it's only visible when the sky is clear, and only extends about 20 degrees above the horizon.
Astronomical twilight does make a difference with astronomy though, strangely enough. Near the solstice fewer stars are visible, and objects such as clusters and galaxies become much harder to see. On a clear winter night 5th magnitude stars are visible naked eye, but it's difficult to see 4th magnitude ones at the summer solstice. M13 in Hercules (globular cluster) I can just see with the naked eye on a good night in August when it's high up in the evening, but not in June when it is highest near local midnight. This effect might go down to about 50N.
Well I have lived in Northern Norway for many years, including in Tromsø, and there ain't many stars to be seen in 24-hr daylight in summer... but a lot of Aurora Borealis in winter.
Btw, from now on there is no real nightfall in Northern Norway from Lofoten and further north, there will be no night for three months.
24-hr daylight is actually very practical, you can take your boat and go fishing out on the fjord all night, go mountain hiking or do anything you like just as if it was day. Never a problem with sleeping in summer, on the contrary, you get energy from all that daylight.
I'm at 49°N here and don't really notice any difference here even though we're supposed to have Astronomical twilight all night long on the summer solstice. The only I thing I notice is that twilight seems to last longer closer to the summer solstice... that's my perception at least.
I'm at 49°N here and don't really notice any difference here even though we're supposed to have Astronomical twilight all night long on the summer solstice. The only I thing I notice is that twilight seems to last longer closer to the summer solstice... that's my perception at least.
It actually lasts longest close to the summer and winter solstices, and shortest at the equinoxes: due to the angle the sun's path makes with the horizon.
The same effect causes shorter twilight at low latitudes- I really do notice how much quicker it gets dark even in places like Spain and Greece compared to here.
Here is a picture i took on 17th June 2012 just shortly before 2 a.m in the morning.
It's of course a bit darker than seen on the picture, but there is always an orange tint on the northern horizon throughout the night at that time of year.
Noctilucent clouds made it brighter.
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