Winter Solstice, defined by when the sun reaches its southernmost extreme on earth's horizon, is on December 22. The further north one is, the shorter the length of the day. For fans of starlight tanning, the lengthy nights are excellent times and Murmansk is the place to be. Here is a sampling of sunrise and sunset schedules in three Russian cities:
Sunrise | Sunset | Day Length | Night Length | |
Moscow | 9:58 am | 4:58 pm | 7:00:17 | 16:59:43 |
St. Petersburg | 11:00 am | 4:54 pm | 5:53:46 | 18:06:14 |
Murmansk | What? | Perpetual | 00:00:00 | 24:00:00 |
High Noon at OK Corral
By comparison, Miami, Florida has over 10:30 hours of sunlight on the same day.
Ah, Russia's darkest days, and I bet you thought that I was going to talk about other current affairs!
Next topics: Blowing hot air and smoke. Never mind; I already covered it here, here, and here.