Ice skaters at sunset

[Blue_In_AK]

The taller building in the background is the headquarters of my credit union, which is also my daughter's employer. We love Alaska USA Federal Credit Union. :)

[Adsos Letter]

1. That looks like fun, Blue. COLD fun, but fun nonetheless. What time of Day/Night was this taken?

[Blue_In_AK]

2. About 4:30 p.m.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. Or actually probably closer to 4:45.

[Adsos Letter]

6. I was just wondering if this was one of those times when you had light at midnight

or do you get that phenomenon in southern Alaska?

[Blue_In_AK]

8. No, we haven't really turned the corner yet

going towards summer, but we are gaining about 5 minutes of daylight each day. Today the sun rose at 9:24 and will set at 5:05. At winter solstice, the sun rises about 10:30 and sets around 3:30, so we've gained about 2-1/2 hours since the end of December. By June 21, the sun will rise at 4:20 a.m. and set at 11:42 p.m., but it never gets completely dark since the sun is just below the horizon.

Up north in Barrow, the sun doesn't rise for a couple of months. They just had their first sunrise since mid November.
Here's a photo I found of the Barrow sunrise on January 23 http://www.weather.com/outlook/photo/read/weather/ACA5D49C-BD46-4EA1-B08E-AB7C54CF0509

[hippywife]

9. I have a really hard time

trying to decide when to visit Alaska (like I'll ever get to!) It would be interesting to experience the summer but I'd also want to be there when it is really dark at night and hope to see a phenomenal aurora.

[Blue_In_AK]

10. The aurora has been kind of understated for the past few years,

although there's speculation it might pick up again in the spring. It goes in cycles with the sunspots.

[hippywife]

11. My husband watches the

cycles of the sunspots hoping one day we'll see one down here. (Also because he's a ham operator and the sunspots effect propagation.) It's happened before but it's pretty rare.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031113.html

[Blue_In_AK]

12. We're thinking we might make a trip up to Talkeetna,

100 miles north of here, later this spring on a clear night with a good aurora forecast for an overnighter on the banks of the Susitna River. The river valley creates a nice open area there where the aurora viewing should be fantastic -- no mountains or trees to get in the way. It looks like this.



Imagine yourself with a tripod and northern lights dancing overhead. :)

[hippywife]

13. That would be spectacular!

It's gorgeous enough in the daylight, let alone with an aurora overhead. :D

[hippywife]

4. What a beautiful

and serene scene, Blue. Without the buildings it would look like something out of the olden days. :)

[Blue_In_AK]

5. It's a very nice little park

in the Midtown section of Anchorage on land donated by a local banking family (one of those "community banks" they're always talking about). Yesterday was billed as "Victorian skating," so some people had turned up in period costumes. Besides the skating, there was also a sleighride, and I understand they were having music later, although we didn't stay long enough for that. I really like these kinds of (free) community events.

[hippywife]

7. That's what it really put me in mind of.

Those scenes you see in old movies like The Bishop's Wife. :)