A Speck of Sunlight Is a Town’s Yearly Alarm Clock
A Speck of Sunlight Is a Town’s Yearly Alarm Clock
“Elke Morgner and Allison Bailey, two graduate students at the research institute here, were hacking through ice six miles outside of Longyearbyen this week to take measurements from the underlying tundra when they saw a sliver of sunlight peek around a mountain. Despite temperatures of 4 below (-40 with wind chill), they put down their tools and stared.
“As they worked, the shaft of light grew to fill a large swath of the valley. On their way home, they made a beeline with their snowmobiles for the light. And there it was, between two mountains: the sun.
“‘Look at it!’ they shouted in unison. ‘Look at it!’ The scientists hugged, did little jigs in the snow, and then stood motionless, awe-struck. Back on campus in town, advance reports about the solar spotting filtered in, and other students headed off on snowmobiles to check it out.”
This NY Times story about a small Norwegian town located 600 miles from the North Pole celebrating the arrival of sunlight after months of darkness is like true-life science fiction.
