Midnight Sunset

Sunset, 12:15 a.m. July 10, 2014

Midnight Rainbow

Friday evening we had quite a bit of rain.  I was getting into bed shortly before midnight when a heavy rain shower started.  There was sunlight peeking under the shades so I peeked out.  There was  a lovely full rainbow arcing across the sky. 

Well, needless to say it was a while until I got to bed.

 I grabbed my camera and went out onto the deck.

It was raining fairly heavily so I stayed under the covered area on our deck to keep my camera dry.  I wanted to stay dry too--did I mention I was in my bathrobe?

I could not quite get all of the rainbow in one shot.

Looking to the west you can see the blue sky and the sun shining on the edge of the storm cloud.

Midnight at this time of year can be full of surprises.

Midnight Sun

On the way home from the Midnight Sun Festival on Sunday night I took a few shots of the sun going down.  Sunset is not for another hour at 12:47 a.m., but the sun was sinking below the hills.  The last shot was at home, shortly after midnight. 

While we are thoroughly enjoying all our daylight, there's a bittersweet element.  Today we've already lost a minute of daylight, and it's all downhill from here until December 21st.  However, in the meantime we've got a whole lot of daylight to cram a whole lot of activities into!

Dragonflies and Midnight Skies

It's the time of year when we're seeing lots of dragonflies.  The Four-spotted Skimmer is one of the first to emerge in the spring.  We're especially glad to see the dragonflies emerge because they eat mosquitoes, a critter we have in abundance.

I added a poster edge in the photo below to highlight the lovely patterns in the dragonfly's wings.

We are at the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.  We have 21 hours and 49 minutes between sunrise and sunset, and it doesn't get dark in those few hours in between.  The photos below were taken at midnight.  Lots of activities are going on this weekend, including a 10k Midnight Sun Run, a Minor League baseball game starting at 10:00 p.m. with no artificial lights, a Midnight Sun Festival on Sunday, and many, many more activities celebrating the long hours of daylight.

I'm linking up with Skywatch

and Eileen's Saturday Critters.

The Downhill Slide to Winter Begins

Taken at 11:55 p.m. Thursday night, the two photos below were 52 minutes shy of sunset, which occurred at 12:47 a.m. Friday morning.  After a week of temperatures in the mid to upper 80s with clear skies, a few clouds moved in with a very light rain shower.

The color intensified a bit after midnight, but sunset is still over a half hour away.

Sunrise will be at 2:59 a.m., giving us 21 hours and 48 minutes of daylight.  It won't get dark between sunset and sunrise though.

Thursday at 9:04 p.m., according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, the Earth experienced the moment of the summer solstice.  That's the point in time when the northern half of the Earth's axis reaches its greatest tilt toward the sun and then begins its slow return to perpendicular on the autumnal equinox in September.  That means that winter is officially on its way!

Looking away from the sky, the photo of the flowers was taken at 12:09 a.m.

Fairbanks celebrates the summer solstice in a big way.  Friday night the Midnight Sun baseball game will begin at 10:30 p.m., with the Alaska Goldpanners playing the San Francisco Seals in the 108th staging of this event.  Saturday night the 10K Midnight Sun Run will start at 10:00 p.m., with thousands of participants either running or walking, many of them in costume.  Sunday the Midnight Sun Festival will take place from noon to midnight.  The downtown street fair will have hundreds of booths and 33 live music and dance performances.  Many other events will also take place, like the Midnight Sun Hockey Tournament that my husband is playing in, and many other sporting events.  After a long winter, everyone is ready to cram as much as possible into summer!  After all, we're going to begin losing daylight now.....

The Evening Garden

This evening I took photos of the same flowers that were featured in the midnight garden in the last post.  These were taken between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m.  Again, these are straight out of the camera.   The light at this time of day can create some spectacular effects.  

 

The Midnight Garden

It is the time of year when it doesn't get dark here in Fairbanks, and tonight is our shortest night of the year with 21 hours and 49 minutes between sunrise and sunset and twilight the rest of the time.  Sunset is 12:47 a.m., but the sun had already settled behind the hills near our house when I took these photos shortly after midnight.  The photos are straight out of the camera with only natural light.  The focus is a little soft, but there's still plenty of light to do whatever you want: gardening, reading a book, playing badminton, going for a hike or a bike ride, or any number of things.  And people do.  While the midnight sun is around people tend to cram as many things as possible into the day.  Always lingering in your mind is the knowledge that having reached the longest day we begin losing daylight on the relentless march towards the shortest day of the year in December.  But for now we will celebrate the sun!

Approaching Sunset

The sky last night a bit before sunset was beautiful. I took these photos shortly after 11:00 p.m. as the sun dipped behind the hill near our house. Sunset today is at 11:45 p.m. and sunrise at 3:51 a.m. with twilight in between.

We are gaining almost seven minutes of daylight a day as we approach the longest day of the year. Spring was a little slow coming this year, with the first 60 degree day of the year on May 15th, about two weeks later than normal. Two days later though we hit 70 degrees, and today we hit 80 degrees. The trees have all turned green and a few early wildflowers are blooming. Summer has come quite dramatically!

The Midnight Sun and Baseball

Here in Fairbanks we are enjoying the Midnight Sun, but today marks the beginning of the slide towards our shortest day in December. June 21st was the longest day of the year, and the sunset in Fairbanks was at 12:47 a.m. and the sunrise was at 2:57 a.m. The length of day was 21 hours, 50 minutes, 13 seconds, a gain of 14 seconds from the day before. These two sunset photos were taken on June 22nd at 12:55 a.m. Sunset was at 12:47 a.m. and sunrise at 2:57 a.m. The length of day today is 21 hours, 49 minutes, 58 seconds, a loss of 15 seconds from yesterday. The sun dips briefly below the horizon, but it does not get dark.

Taking advantage of all that daylight, an event that began in 1906 as a bet between two bars took place last night. The 105th Midnight Sun Baseball Classic began with the first pitch at 10:30 p.m. The game is played without artificial lights, and is played every year on the Solstice. Since 1960 it has been played by the Alaska Goldpanners. The opponent last night was the U.S. Military Heroes of the Diamond and the game went 15 innings. The Panners scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to win 4 to 3, and the game ended at 2:59 a.m. I wasn't at the game, but 4,700 fans were in attendance and over 1,000 of those stuck it out to the end. They were privileged to see both sunset and sunrise during the game. If you are a baseball fan you might want to put the Midnight Sun Game on your bucket list.

Tour Time: Midnight Sun Festival

Sunday evening we went to the Midnight Sun Festival, a street fair that was held downtown from noon to midnight. The streets are closed off and the fair covers about nine city blocks. There were more than 150 booths, 3 stages with live entertainment, pony rides, a 3-on-3 basketball competition, and many other activities. Below are some scenes from the fair.

This weekend there were numerous Midnight Sun activities around town to choose from. There was the Midnight Sun Run on Saturday night that began at 10:00 p.m. This race is in its 27th year and attracts runners from all over the country. This year about 3600 people participated. Along with the serious racers, there are many people who walk the course and many who wear costumes. This year there were storm troopers, a mermaid, a runaway bride (male) and lots of other fun costumes. There was the Yukon 800 riverboat race which is a high speed race for 800 miles on the Chena, Tanana, and Yukon Rivers. There was the Midnight Sun Baseball Classic which has been played in some form since 1906. It begins at 10:30 p.m. and is played without artificial lights. There was a Harley Motorcycle Rally. There was the Great Alaskan Foodstock, which is a fundraiser for the Rescue Mission and featured 32 bands. There was a car show on Sunday. There was Dragonfly Days and Summer Solstice Walk at Creamer’s Field on Saturday. There was an Archery Shoot. There were many other music and athletic events. There was a bit of rain, but everything still went on as scheduled.