Categories
Nature Vadsø

Birdwatching in Varanger

Vadsø, just like the region of Varanger in Northern Norway, are well known for birdwatchers across the world. Not only that it is a place where an astonishingly lot of bird species can be found, but it is one of the most accessible Arctic birdwatching destinations. If not the most accessible!

Milder winters

Even if Varanger is well above the Arctic Circle, the winters here are milder than in other regions of the Arctic. This is the reason why some bird species, choose to come here from more northern latitudes for overwintering. Thus, Varanger is perfect for observing these species, which otherwise could be seen only by travelling to the more inaccessible High Arctic.

Smaller distances

Moreover, the Arctic region of the world is “smaller”. As the Earth is somewhat a sphere, the region towards the North Pole is smaller than the regions below the Arctic circle and even smaller than the region covering the Earth’s equator.

North America, Europe and Siberia sort of “meet up” here in the Arctic, thus the distance that birds, which normally live on these continents, need to fly, is shorter.

Exclusive birdwatching destination

Varanger’s climate and natural richness ensure that birds have all the resources and conditions they need when they meet up here during their migration or breeding periods. Birdwatchers not only get to see an exclusive display of bird species in their natural habitat, but they get to see this display in a breathtaking Arctic natural scenery, dominated by the warmth of the Midnight Sun in summer, or by the elusive Northern Lights in winter.

Just take a look at the pictures in the gallery below, to get only an idea of what birdwatchers can enjoy if they visit Vadsø and Varanger!

Where to see the birds across Varanger

In Varanger, there are a number of special, well-known places, where to look for nature’s feathery inhabitants, without interfering with their natural course of life.

The small island of Vadsøya is one such place, due to fact that in the sea area between the island and the mainland the birds can easily find food. The Dammen pond on the island is especially known as being a nesting and feeding place, because of the rich vegetation around, which provides shelter for numerous species of birds. Oyster catchers, red-backed sandpipers, red shanks, ruff sandpipers, tufted ducks or the Arctic terns are just a few of the birds that can be seen here.

Another well-known place is the Ekkerøy nesting cliff, near Vadsø, where you can treat your eyes to kittiwakes and eider ducks, including the King and Steller’s eider, which are known to breed in Alaska and Siberia, but overwinter in Varanger.

Hornøya, near Vardø, is a must for a true birdwatcher, as this is a protected nature reserve where literally hundreds of species live their lives right in front of your eyes: guillemots (including the Brünnich specie that can only be found in the Arctic), puffins, eiders (including Steller’s and King eiders), just to name a few.

The region around Nesseby church is also a natural reserve where birdwatchers can delight themselves with seeing flocks of waders, ducks, geese or gulls, or even birds of prey, such as gyrfalcons or Northern hawk owls!

The region across Berlevåg, Båtsfjord and Kongsfjord in Northern Varanger is also a perfect place if you would like to observe and even study King and Steller’s eiders and some species of falcons from the specially designed hides, from where you can’t interfere with the birds’ natural course of life.

Finally, in the Pasvik Valley in South Varanger, species of typical Siberian birds, as well as owls may be seen.

Rare birds

Varanger is the place where birds, that are rarely seen in Europe, can be observed: cattle egrets, Egyptian vultures, spotted eagles or Ross’s gulls, just to name a few.

Categories
Nature Science Universe

The Polar Night

This period of the year means the beginning of the end of the Polar Night for regions in the Arctic. The polar night in Vadsø will end on the 17 of January, when the Sun will rise for the first time this year in the Arctic sky, for only 50 minutes. After this date, each day will mean the Sun will come out higher and higher in the sky and for longer periods. And this until May 17, when the Sun will never set for almost 2 months, marking the beginning of the Polar Day.

But what is the polar night?

Earth carries out two types of rotations: one around the Sun, during the course of a year, and the second around its own axis, during 24 hours. At the same time, Earth is inclined in respect with the Sun, at an angle of approximately 23°, and remains tilted at this angle during the whole year.

This means that the Earth is illuminated by the Sun differently during one year. At and around the winter solstice (sometime around 22nd December each year), Earth is inclined in such a way that the North Pole and the region around the North Pole, points away from the Sun, meaning it is not illuminated by our star, which translates into a continuous night – phenomenon which we call the Polar Night.

Just take a look at the first part of this video from the California Academy of Sciences, and see how Earth is illuminated by the Sun during a whole year.

You can see that the length of the polar night varies in function of latitude: closer you are to the North Pole, longer the polar night is. At the exact location of the North Pole, the polar night lasts no less than 6 months! At lower latitudes, but still above the Arctic Circle, the Sun never rises for shorter periods. The shortest polar night occurs on regions exactly on the Polar Circle (at 66°N), where the Sun never rises for only 1 day, which is exactly the day of the Winter Solstice!

Moreover, in function of latitude, the Polar Night may be experienced differently, concerning the position of the Sun below the horizon. This means that during the polar night, closer to the Arctic Circle, the Sun will still be near the horizon (but still below it) during the normal “day” hours. Which means that twilight occurs – thus indirect light from the Sun beautifully illuminates these regions, and you are able to see the landscape and the surroundings. And it does it in a surreal blue lighting – which is what the amazing polar blue is! Vadsø in Northern Norway experiences this phenomenon during the whole period of the polar night.

Me during the Blue Hour outside of Vadsø, during the polar night
Dogsledding in the Varangerhalvøya National Park, during the Polar Night

Further up from the Arctic Circle, the Sun does not have time to get so close to the horizon, which means that no indirect light will illuminate these regions at all, which leads to a 24-hour long pitch-black night, which can last for months!

And the best part about the Polar Night? You can see the Northern Lights even during the “daytime”!

Regions below the Polar Circle experience a normal day/night cycle, which varies also in length, in function of the exact latitude.

Categories
Nature Stargazing Universe

See the “Bethlehem Star” in the Night Sky

In astronomy, a conjunction means the “meeting” of two planets in the night sky. Jupiter and Saturn, the biggest planets in our Solar System, can meet as well, but when they do, their conjunction is a “great” one – hence the term Great Conjunction!

Jupiter and Saturn are one of the brightest objects in the night sky. They look just like two very bright stars – but don’t mistake them for stars! They are planets, so they don’t create light themselves just like the stars (like our Sun does for example). They are “lit” only because of the reflection of the sunlight. Which is the same reason why the Moon shines in the night sky!

The Great Conjunction of 2020

In their perpetual movement around the sun, it happens sometimes that planets “meet”. The word “meet” is quoted because the planets don’t actually meet in reality. It is just how we see things from here on Earth. In fact, the two planets are aligned in such a way in their orbits, that from Earth, we see them as if they came into contact with eachother. In reality though, they’re some million kilometres apart!

And why is this conjunction “great” you may ask? Well, this is because Saturn and Jupiter, due to their size, they are already bright even when they’re “apart”. When two bright lights touch each other, they are seen like only one light, even brighter! The same happens with the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.

When does it happen?

Jupiter and Saturn are already close in the night sky since quite some time now. But on December 21 (thus tomorrow!), the two planets will be so close (less than 0.1 degrees) that they will look like an elongated, very bright star. So, stargazers, get ready for a Christmas treat!

Why is the Great Conjunction so special this year?

The Great Conjunction occurs regularly, roughly every 20 years. But why is it so special this year?

In function on the position of the “meeting” with respect to the position of the Sun, the conjunction may be more or less bright. If this meeting place is too close to the Sun, the brightness diminishes. This year, the position is ideal for a very bright Great Conjunction!

Another thing to take into account is how close the two planets will appear to be. Not every 20 years the planets have such an apparent closeness! In fact, to get an idea of how rare this occurs, know that last time Jupiter and Saturn appeared so close, was in year 1226! It actually happened in 1623, but it was rather close to the Sun, which made it actually less visible.

Where and how to look?

You need to look in the night sky about 1 hour after sunset, almost anywhere on Earth, even in light polluted areas! In the Northern hemisphere look towards south-west. As for the Southern hemisphere, look towards the west. Needless to say that you will need a clear sky!

It will be impossible to miss such an impressive sight so, don’t worry, it will not be difficult to spot it!

“Christmas Star”

As the Great Conjunction this year happens very close to Christmas, it is also called the “Christmas Star“, or the “Bethlehem Star“. To go even further, some astronomers believe that the Star of Bethlehem which led the Three Wise Men to the place where Jesus was born, might have actually been a Great Conjunction! But there are other theories that suggest that a supernova might have occurred that time. Or, was it indeed a divine miracle?

Categories
Nature Science Stargazing

Twilight Occurrence

In a previous article we saw what is twilight and what are the main types of twilight. As a reminder, twilight is the period of the day when a certain point on Earth is illuminated indirectly, by sunlight scattering, when the Sun is below the horizon, but not more than 18°, thus its rays are still visible, indirectly, for an observer located at that certain point.

Now, we’re going to look at how twilight occurs on Earth, when it occurs and… how it doesn’t occur at all in certain places!

Standard twilight occurrence

A standard twilight occurrence was described in our previous article:

During the course of a day, at sunrise, the Sun appears in the sky from the right (East) and, during the whole daytime, it shines its light directly onto the place on Earth where the observer is located. In the evening, at sunset, the Sun will again reach 0° on the left side (West) and it will slowly disappear under the horizon. This moment the evening twilight starts. Due to earth’s rotation, the Sun will continue to descend more and more under the horizon. But before our star reaches 18° under the horizon, there will still be distinguishable light from the Sun for the observer. When the Sun reaches 18°, dusk occurs, and the observer will not distinguish any indirect sunlight anymore and the astronomical night starts.

Because of Earth’s rotation, the Sun continues its trip and, very early in the morning, before it rises, it will reach again 18° under the horizon. At this moment, dawn occurs, and twilight starts again – this time we’re talking about the morning twilight. As time passes more, the Sun will ascend more, until it reaches again 0° and it rises the next day.

Twilight occurs thus during both periods of the day when the Sun is between 0° and 18° under the horizon.

This scenario is true for people living on Earth between approximately 50° North or South of the Equator at any time of the year. This is also valid for higher latitudes, but not around the summer solstice, when the Sun does not descend more than 18° under the horizon during the “night”, and thus there’s no real astronomical night between dusk and dawn.

Continuous twilight between sunset and sunrise

As written in the previous paragraph, above latitudes of approximately 50°N/S, around the date of the summer solstice, the Sun does not descend lower than 18° under the horizon, which means that, even if the Sun is under the horizon, its rays can still be seen, indirectly, during the whole night, which translates itself into a continuous twilight during the whole “night” hours.

In function of the latitude, there can be a continuous astronomical twilight, a continuous nautical twilight, or a continuous civil twilight between sunset and sunrise. This actually occurs in very popular and accessible places around the world, such as:

  • Continuous astronomical twilight: many European countries, such as northern UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and many other in the Northern Hemisphere or the Falkland Islands in the Southern Hemisphere;
  • Continuous nautical twilight: a great part of Russia and Canada, northern Denmark in the Northern Hemisphere or Ushuaia in Argentina in the Southern Hemisphere;
  • Continuous civil twilight: more northern parts of Russia (such as Sankt Petersburg), Northern Norway, Northern Sweden, Northern Finland.

White nights

A continuous civil twilight between sunset and sunrise is called a white night. The term white night also applies if a certain place does enter nautical twilight also, but if the Sun does not descend lower than 7°.

The white night constitutes a popular symbol for Sankt Petersburg in Russia, where, around the summer solstice, the Sun never goes lower than 7° under the horizon for several days.

A continuous nautical or astronomical twilight does not mean a white night occurs.

No astronomical day between morning and evening twilight

Within the two Polar Circles – Arctic and Antarctic – in wintertime, Polar Night occurs. The polar night means that the Sun does not rise above the horizon at all during 24 hours. But it may approach the horizon, above 18°, thus its rays are seen indirectly and twilight occurs during the “daytime” hours.

Again, in function of the actual latitude, during the normal “daytime” hours, there may be a continuous civil, nautical or astronomical twilight. Vadsø experiences a continuous civil twilight between approximately November 25 and January 17.

Church of Arctic Sea in Vadsø, at noon, during the Polar Night
Church of Arctic Sea in Vadsø, at noon, during the Polar Night’s daytime civil twilight

No twilight at all

In polar regions, around the summer solstice, the Sun is up in the sky 24 hours a day, a period known as the Polar Day. The Sun that never sets for more than 24 hours is called the Midnight Sun, and it never disappears under the horizon for several days in a row. Higher the latitude, longer the period the Midnight Sun occurs.

As the Sun never goes under the horizon, these places experience no twilight at all during all these days.

This condition occurs here in Vadsø during the Midnight Sun period, and lasts more than 2 months, between approximately May 16 and July 26 each year.

Categories
Aurora Labs Nature Vadsø

Autumn in Vadsø

A new season has made its way up here in Finnmark, on the coast of the Varanger fjord: autumn. Even though the Arctic autumn means stronger winds, colder temperatures or a shorter daylight period due to the approach of the Polar Night which will begin next month, this season brings also joy through its multitude of colours!

The Vadsø Municipality has put on its autumn clothes also, as the rest of Northern Norway did: the town is now multicoloured in shades of yellow, orange and red, the surrounding tundra is reddish, and the civil twilight is intensely blue, period followed by dark nights with green skies due to the Northern Lights!

Watch the video below for an idea of what autumn means for the inhabitants of Vadsø! (There’s also the French version of this video on the Aurora Labs Youtube channel!)

Would you like to experience this magical season and feel on your own skin the vastness of the coloured autumn landscapes of Vadsø and Varanger? Then take a look on the Aurora Labs website to see how to arrive and what is there to see and do in this beautiful region!