Tag Archives: sunset
TWO FOR TUESDAY: After four months without a sunset, Longyearbyen sees it happen twice in one day; in only two months the sun will rise for the last time in 2021

Photo of Tuesday’s first sunset since April 18 by Michelle van Dijk / Longyearbyen Camping
So for all the first-timers here’s the riddle again: since we don’t live on Tatooine, how is it possible the sun set twice in Longyearbyen on Tuesday?
A helpful (or not) hint: sunset also occurred before sunrise.
128 DAYS WITHOUT A SUNSET, THEN TWO IN ONE DAY: Nearly four-month-long polar summer ends with double disappearance in Longyearbyen; in two months the long polar night begins

Photo by Elizabeth Bourne
After nearly four months without a sunset, the sun is sinking twice in Longyearbyen on Tuesday.
The ever-present solar sphere these past few months vanished beneath the western skyline at 12:10 a.m., rising a short while and distance away at 1:50 a.m. It will vanish a second time at 11:45 p.m. before settling into a more “normal” day/night cycle that will see Longyearbyen officially go from 24-hour daylight to 24-hour darkness in exactly two months.