Google Earth Community: Midnight Sun shines on Google Earth

The satellite imagery of this area of the Rybachiy Peninsula, Murmansk Oblast, Russia, is taken late at night as the shadows point southwards. The long, straight shadow from the lighthouse may, along with the attached clock face overlay, function as a sundial. Please note that this feature is only meant to give an idea of the time of day this satellite photo was taken.

Due to daylight saving time and the Rybachiy Peninsula's situation in the extreme West of the Moscow Time zone, my guess is that the satellite photo was taken at approximately 11:15 PM local standard time (Moscow Summer Time (UTC+4)).

The nearby city of Murmansk illuminated by the midnight sun. The source states that this photo was taken at midnight, primo June.

GE view:

The midnight sun
The midnight sun occurs within the polar circles for various lenghts of time according to latitude. The axial tilt of the Earth as it orbits around the sun causes e.g. the North Pole to experience six months of continuous sun shine (if not obstructed by clouds), while some areas just south of the Arctic Circle have only one night of midnight sun.

According to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute [link in Norwegian] the town of Bossekop in the municipality of Alta, Norway, which is located at corresponding latitude to the northernmost point of the Rybachiy Peninsula, experience the midnight sun from May 16 to July 26 (upper rim) or May 19 to July 24 (entire face of the sun). That is a long wait for sunset.

Extras
The polar circles [KMZ]
Screenshots preserved in case of GE updates: #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
The clock face in the overlay is free to use and is available here.

Edited by Tychee (05/31/08 05:44 AM)

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