Light & latitude
Compare summer and winter daylight in six northern places, from Oslo to Longyearbyen.
Sources: Natural Earth + SunCalc
Start reading ↓Daylight at the solstices
Calculated daylight · SunCalc
Tromsø has midnight sun in June and polar night in December. The sun-path chart shows how that contrast changes with latitude and season.
Compare six places using calculated daylight for 2026. The model assumes an unobstructed horizon; local terrain and weather affect what you see.
Choose a place, date and solar time. Compare the sun’s altitude with the horizon, or use the seasonal controls to compare daylight hours.
Solar time follows the sun at this longitude; it differs from local clock time and daylight saving.
| Place | June solstice | December solstice |
|---|---|---|
| Oslo | ||
| Reykjavík | ||
| Rovaniemi | ||
| Bodø | ||
| Tromsø | ||
| Longyearbyen |
SunCalc 2.0.2, 2026, sea-level observer. The curve shows apparent sun altitude; daylight uses the sunrise/sunset threshold, including refraction and the solar disc. Local mean solar time follows longitude, not clock time or daylight saving. Terrain, weather and twilight are excluded.
| Place | Country | Latitude | June daylight (h) | December daylight (h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oslo | Norway | 59.918636 | 18.8 | 5.9 |
| Reykjavík | Iceland | 64.143459 | 21.1 | 4.1 |
| Rovaniemi | Finland | 66.500035 | 24 | 2.2 |
| Bodø | Norway | 67.276435 | 24 | 0.8 |
| Tromsø | Norway | 69.635076 | 24 | 0 |
| Longyearbyen | Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands | 78.220971 | 24 | 0 |
Our sun-path view is a calculation. This sequence gives it an observational counterpart: Follow the Line: a silent, 26-second sequence of satellite views showing the changing boundary between daylight and darkness through the seasons. View the NASA source.
NASA’s Earth Observatory · Robert Simmon · Meteosat-9 imagery from EUMETSAT · released 2013
Visual description: Earth is shown from a fixed satellite viewpoint as the boundary between daylight and darkness changes through the seasons. The boundary tilts one way around the June solstice, passes nearer a north–south alignment around the equinoxes, and tilts the opposite way around the December solstice. The imagery covers the Meteosat view of Earth, not the Arctic cities individually.
Six places, one changing horizon.
Our journey begins in Oslo. The day is long, but the sun still sets. The difference between a late evening and a day without sunset is the thread we will follow north.
21 June: 18.8 hours. 21 December: 5.9 hours.
Source: Natural Earth coordinates · SunCalc model · 2026 solstices
Reykjavík lies farther north, although well to the west of our other stops. The summer day stretches again. Longitude shifts the clock; latitude is central to this seasonal contrast.
21 June: 21.1 hours. 21 December: 4.1 hours.
Source: Natural Earth coordinates · SunCalc model · 2026 solstices
At Rovaniemi, the modeled summer sun does not set. The calculation uses the sun’s upper edge and standard atmospheric refraction, so the transition does not fall on a single, sharp latitude line.
21 June: 24 hours. 21 December: 2.2 hours.
Source: Natural Earth coordinates · SunCalc model · 2026 solstices
Bodø brings us back to the Norwegian coast. The June model gives a full day with the sun above the horizon, while December leaves a narrow window of direct daylight.
21 June: 24 hours. 21 December: 0.8 hours.
Source: Natural Earth coordinates · SunCalc model · 2026 solstices
Tromsø takes the contrast further: polar day in this June calculation, polar night in December. Polar night does not mean there is no twilight; this chart counts the time between sunrise and sunset.
21 June: 24 hours. 21 December: 0 hours.
Source: Natural Earth coordinates · SunCalc model · 2026 solstices
In Longyearbyen, the seasonal contrast fills the whole day. Tilt the map to see the surrounding terrain, then remember that mountains can hide the sun even when a sea-level horizon model says it is up.
21 June: 24 hours. 21 December: 0 hours.
Source: Natural Earth coordinates · SunCalc model · 2026 solstices
The map now switches to December. The places have not moved. Our relationship to the sun has.
Explore the darker markers, then compare both solstices in the chart below. The estimates describe an unobstructed horizon, not a promise of sunny weather.
Source: SunCalc 2.0.2 · modeled sunrise-to-sunset duration
| Place | Country | Latitude | June daylight (h) | December daylight (h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oslo | Norway | 59.918636 | 18.8 | 5.9 |
| Reykjavík | Iceland | 64.143459 | 21.1 | 4.1 |
| Rovaniemi | Finland | 66.500035 | 24 | 2.2 |
| Bodø | Norway | 67.276435 | 24 | 0.8 |
| Tromsø | Norway | 69.635076 | 24 | 0 |
| Longyearbyen | Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands | 78.220971 | 24 | 0 |
Oslo has a sunset at the June solstice; Tromsø and Longyearbyen do not in this model. In December, both northern locations have zero sunrise-to-sunset hours. Twilight can still occur during polar night.
Use the calendar to compare the same date across places, then keep a place fixed and change the season.
Natural Earth · populated places Six selected point locations. Coordinates are for general cartographic use, not surveyed observation sites.
SunCalc · daylight calculations Version 2.0.2; 21 June and 21 December 2026. Polar-day and polar-night flags handled explicitly.
NASA · the solstice and Earth’s tilt Background on why daylight changes with season and latitude.
Watch the planet lean into the light NASA’s Earth Observatory · Robert Simmon · Meteosat-9 imagery from EUMETSAT · released 2013
How this edition was made Sea-level observer, unobstructed horizon, standard refraction. Terrain, weather and twilight excluded. Polar day = 24 h; polar night = 0 h. The interactive sky computes apparent sun altitude for local mean solar time, not legal time zones or daylight saving. NASA video is a separate satellite observation sequence released in 2013.
Data retrieved 2026-09-13. Native maps and original narrative by Atlas Storymaps. Source data: Natural Earth + SunCalc. Natural Earth and USGS-produced source data are public domain. Basemap and terrain providers are credited on each map.