On July 27th the members of the wintering team at the Neumayer Station III have seen the sun for the first time since May 21st. The polar night officially ended on July 22nd in Atka Bay. But the wind blew with 20 metres per second and snowfall prevented the nine-member crew from watching the sun rising after two months.
The station’s meteorologist Elke Ludewig had carefully prepared her housemates for a delayed appearance. Instead the Neumayer crew was only able to experience midday twilight – not really different from polar night the weeks before. Even if the sun does not rise over the horizon during the winter months, it dawns around midday and there is no complete darkness.
At 11:10 CET on July 27th it finally happened: The wintering team was able to spot the rising sun in clear weather conditions.
Day length increases rapidly since then: from only twelve minutes in the beginning up to more than three hours a week later (http://dateandtime.info). From November 15th on polar day will be prevailing. Station leader Petra Gößmann-Lange shot the photo on July 27th.
