Just before 11 p.m. on Wednesday evening, the Sun was farthest from the northern hemisphere. But then it gets brighter every day.
If you work from 9am to 4pm, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a little bit of daylight in recent weeks. On Wednesday, the chance was very small. This day is the “shortest” day of the year.
In Oslo there were five hours and 53 minutes of daylight on Wednesday. But perhaps the people of Oslo shouldn’t complain too much. She was in Trondheim only 4 hours 30 minutes. While Bodø only had to be content with 48 minutes.
But he who waits for good does not wait in vain. Wednesday is the winter solstice. The sun “turned”. Now the minutes of daylight are getting longer and longer.
Have you forgotten the fact of the winter solstice? Here is a short and simple explanation initially:
The winter solstice is the day when the northern part of the globe is farthest from the sun. It takes place every year on the 21st or 22nd of December.
To be precise, it happened at 10.48pm on a Wednesday.
It gets darker south of the equator
Haven’t you gained any wisdom yet? We turn to Sondre Vik Furuseth, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo (UiO).
The Earth rotates around itself. He gives us days. But the Earth also revolves around the Sun, at an inclination of 23.5 degrees. It gives us the year and the seasons. According to Voroseth, different parts of the globe see the sun to varying degrees:
– Among other things, the number of hours of sunshine per day fluctuates throughout the year for us in Norway – the farther north you live.
The North Pole is farthest from the sun today. The farther north we go, the darker it gets.
“Meanwhile, the Southern Hemisphere has the sunniest day of the year today,” Furuseth continues.
south of the equator, so they will experience darker days than today. While those who live along the equator will not notice any difference. There, day and night are the same length, all year round.
Three seconds of daylight tomorrow
But even if we can rejoice that we’re facing brighter times, we literally have to be patient. it will take Little time before we notice anything.
At first, the sun would only light up our days for a few seconds longer than the day before. But the closer to spring, the faster it goes.
- The change in Oslo from Wednesday to Thursday this week is only 3 seconds, but then the length of the day gradually increases.
- Within one week the change will be 1 minute per day and during January increases from approximately 2 to 5 minutes per day.
- During the month of March, the day increases by a total of 2 hours and 45 minutes, about 5 1/2 minutes more each day that passes.
Go faster in the north
The reason is that the Northern Hemisphere, where we live, is pointing obliquely away from the Sun until March 20th. Then stand up straight. Then it tilts toward the sun until June 21, when it starts moving the other way again.
There are also significant differences between southern and northern Norway.
In Tromsø, the dark period lasted for two months. There now you have to be patient and wait until January 21st before the sun rises over the mountains. But in contrast, it goes twice as fast in Tromsø as in Oslo once it gets dark.
The further north, the faster the speed of light as of March. And already in May, the midnight sun prevails in parts of northern Norway, with daylight all day long.
Light gives hope
Many Norwegians suffer from mental disorders during their lives. Daylight can say a lot. Researchers have studied the health benefits of spending time outside in natural light. conclusions in scan It was clear:
For every additional hour they spend outside in broad daylight, their risk of severe depression decreases, people have better moods and use fewer antidepressants.
At last year’s winter solstice, Aftenposten spoke to psychology professor Katharina Elizabeth Arfwedson Wang, who does research on depression.
“Light gives hope, and it means a lot to the psyche to know it is moving towards brighter times,” Wang said.
She said the coming months may remain difficult for many.
– We are biological beings, so in the New Year we mostly hang our heads, just like houseplants, Wang said.
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