What day do white nights begin? When are the white nights in St. Petersburg? Why and where do they happen?
The white nights season in St. Petersburg is a favorite time for tourists. Firstly, the white nights in the historical center of the city are very beautiful; the old architecture begins to play with mysterious and even mystical colors. Secondly, this season falls during the warmest time of the year, so night walks do not cause any discomfort. White nights in St. Petersburg - when do they start in 2018, when do they end, is it possible to have time to enjoy the white nights this year.
What are white nights?
The peculiarities of the Earth’s rotation around the Sun are such that in the summer in the northern regions of the planet the daylight hours are very long, and in the winter they are extremely short.
As an extreme example, we can take the polar day and polar night. This is how the whole half-year is conventionally called. Far North. Locals They hardly see the sun there during the winter, but it doesn’t set at all in the summer. In the evening and at night, the sun crosses the horizon in the north and rises again in the east.
St. Petersburg occupies an intermediate geographical position between regions with “normal” days and nights, and extreme conditions in the far north.
St. Petersburg's white nights are truly nights in the sense that the sun disappears behind the horizon. But it does not set deeply, and virtually throughout the night in the summer, twilight reigns here.
As a consequence of the summer white nights, in winter St. Petersburg is plunged into darkness - evening and twilight can begin as early as three or four o'clock in the afternoon.
When do white nights begin in St. Petersburg in 2018
It is clear that there is no dependence on a specific year in the start and end dates of the white nights. The calendar we use is built almost perfectly. A year is almost the exact period of the Earth's rotation around the Sun. A small inaccuracy is corrected due to leap years.
The peak of white nights occurs on June 22. This is the so-called summer solstice - the longest day of the year in the entire northern hemisphere.
Wherever you live, even in the southern latitudes of the country, where night falls early enough, June 22 will be the brightest day of the year.
The shortest day of the year is December 22. Starting from December 22 and up to June 22, daylight hours increase, and from June 22 to December 22 it becomes shorter.
Thus, the start and end dates of the white nights season in St. Petersburg are quite arbitrary. It is generally accepted that the white nights season in St. Petersburg lasts from May 27 to July 15.
However, you need to understand that from May 27 to June 22 the nights become increasingly whiter, and by July 15 they become relatively darker. However, this does not mean that over the next one and a half to two weeks you will not be able to enjoy the white nights in St. Petersburg. They are still very spectacular and mysterious.
When choosing night entertainment in St. Petersburg during the White Nights in 2018, do not forget about one of the main ones - the spectacle of the raising of St. Petersburg bridges. You can find out the schedule according to which bridges are raised at.
Many travelers who are planning to visit St. Petersburg want to combine this trip with the time of the “white nights” in the city. What are white nights and when do they happen in St. Petersburg?
The concept of white nights means a natural phenomenon when natural light is not too low at night. Instead of pitch darkness, the city experiences constant twilight at night. This happens due to the fact that the sun goes below the horizon by no more than 7 degrees. In cities located at the sixtieth geographical parallel, one can observe such a natural phenomenon.
If you are going to St. Petersburg to see the “white nights,” I sincerely envy you. Have a nice trip and wonderful emotions to you!
What is white night and where can you see it? Everyone answers this question the same way: you need to go to St. Petersburg. Every year tens of thousands of tourists, travelers and simply amateurs come to the city on the Neva to enjoy the wonderful spectacle. Moreover, some argue that it is impossible to see such beautiful white nights anywhere else, so you can consider yourself lucky if you are lucky enough to live in St. Petersburg. After all, every year you can see this miracle.
What is white night?
This poetic epithet refers to a natural phenomenon in which natural sunlight partially remains throughout the night. The sun is below the horizon, but the reflections of its rays still provide enough light to spend time outside without the need to light lanterns, which is practiced in some northern cities. One gets the feeling that sunset smoothly develops into dawn without the onset of complete night darkness.
Alexander Pushkin poetically and very accurately said about what white nights are: “One dawn is in a hurry to replace another, giving the night half an hour.” The poet depicted the phenomenon, giving it a romantic coloring with notes of slight sadness and magic.
Where can this natural phenomenon be seen?
White nights, beckoning with their splendor, can be seen in any area located above 59 degrees north latitude. It is important to note that astronomers consider absolute only white night, available at latitude 60.6. And what is observed in the official “city of white nights” St. Petersburg is just twilight. Below 50 degrees north latitude, there are no white nights at all. And along the 49th parallel there is only one day a year - June 22.
From June 11 to July 2 is the time of the brightest nights: during this period, each subsequent night becomes lighter than the previous one. After July 5th they begin to darken, becoming more like twilight, and in August the nights turn into the same as everywhere else - completely dark.
Where, besides St. Petersburg, can this spectacle be seen?
- In the cities of Russia - Magadan, Novy Urengoy, Arkhangelsk, Yakutsk and Khanty-Mansiysk, Murmansk. In Petrozavodsk, the white nights are even more colorful than in St. Petersburg and last 52 days, and in Norilsk and Vorkuta - even longer.
- Throughout the countries of Denmark, Iceland and Finland, Norway and Sweden.
- In the northern Baltic.
- In Alaska and Canada (except in the south).
- Partially in the UK.
When the white nights begin, tourists from all over the world come to St. Petersburg. It is in the city on the Neva that the grandeur of this natural phenomenon looks harmonious against the backdrop of aristocratic architecture.
Start
When do white nights begin in St. Petersburg? As usual, at the end of May, and ends on July 16, although according to the astronomical version, this period is even shorter by ten days.
For a little less than two months, white nights delight residents of the northern regions and guests who specially come to admire this beautiful miracle of nature.
IN populated areas above the Arctic Circle, white nights can be observed from two to four weeks, but the further south you go from the starting point, the shorter the period of constant twilight. At both poles of the Earth, white nights last a little more than two weeks and occur twice a year:
- at the South Pole from the third ten days of March to April 7 and from the 7th to the second half of September;
- at the North Pole from the beginning of March to the 18th; from late September to mid-October.
White nights in St. Petersburg
When this natural miracle begins, in the city on the Neva the time comes for festivals of various kinds, folk processions, festivities and attractions of the most varied kinds, because the white nights are the calling card of the city, along with drawbridges, the Admiralty spire and the Bronze Horseman. The first bell of all these entertainment events is considered to be City Day - May 27th. This is where the parade of various celebrations begins:
- Festival of children's creativity "Sounds and colors of white nights".
- A holiday for school graduates throughout the city, which is called “Scarlet Sails” because of the spectacular show: a frigate under bright red sails theatrically sails into the waters of the Neva River, illuminated by fireworks against the backdrop of a white night.
- Music festival “Stars of bygone nights”.
- On the last Sunday of July, Navy Day is celebrated on a large scale.
- Jazz music festival "White Night Swing".
Also, in parallel, many programs and concerts of an entertaining and educational nature are held for children and teenagers: an ice cream festival, folk art fairs with master classes, all kinds of water activities and sports competitions.
When the white nights begin in St. Petersburg, it is always a bright, colorful, fun and educational time spent, so parents try to bring their children there to accustom them to beauty.
Where is the best place to spend a white night in St. Petersburg?
What can you visit in the city on the Neva to remember this period for the rest of your life? The most spectacular thing is, of course, the raising of bridges, which occurs every day with a short interval in time.
You should also definitely take a walk around the square in front of Winter Palace, and in Peterhof admire the fountains. You should visit St. Isaac's Cathedral, which is the fourth largest in the world, and take a walk along Nevsky Prospect - the warmest part of the city, where the air temperature is three degrees higher than in other areas of St. Petersburg.
To understand what white nights are, you need to see them with your own eyes, because no words can convey the beauty of this amazing natural wonder, even the most powerful and high-quality photo and video equipment will not reflect the beauty of the white night.
St. Petersburg is one of the most beautiful metropolises in the world, which at one glance amazes with its grace and splendor. Every summer thousands of tourists come to this amazing city, when there are white nights in St. Petersburg, in order to see with your own eyes how beautiful this natural phenomenon is.
Formation of St. Petersburg
On May 1, 1703, the Russian army conquered a Swedish fortress called Nyenschanz. But the Russian emperor did not like the fact that this fortress was located far from the sea.
Peter I carefully examined the surrounding area and found the ideal place - Hare Island. It was surrounded on all sides by the Neva River, and this made it possible to fire cannons at passing ships. And soon the Peter and Paul Fortress was built on Hare Island.
The Russian Emperor personally drew up a plan for the construction of the fortress. The architects built a fortress in as soon as possible before the first frost occurs. The fortress had powerful walls capable of withstanding a huge siege.
For the first ten years, military units, a temple and Gostiny Dvor were located on this site. In 1705, an industrial enterprise opened here. In 1712, the Russian sovereign announced an important decree to make the city of St. Petersburg the capital of Tsarist Russia. And two years later the Mint was moved to St. Petersburg.
By the end of the eighteenth century, more than 200,000 inhabitants lived in St. Petersburg. Many churches were built. In 1785, a Duma was formed in St. Petersburg.
Today, St. Petersburg continues its active development.
When do the white nights begin?
In the summer of 2016, it will be light in St. Petersburg at night from the eleventh of June to the tenth of July. IN given time There are many citizens on the streets of St. Petersburg. The time of the White Nights coincides with a large-scale event for graduates of St. Petersburg educational institutions with the romantic name Scarlet Sails. And thousands of boys and girls have fun until the morning under the bright sky of their hometown.
Surprisingly, during the magical period of bright nights in the city on the Neva, athletes arrive from all over the world. Every year a sports marathon starts in St. Petersburg. Hardy athletes will run more than forty kilometers - from Palace Square and further along the delightful embankments and numerous streets of this amazing city.
During the white nights, millions of tourists from all over our planet strive to get to the city on the Neva and see with their own eyes not only the crazy beautiful city, but also beautiful white nights.
Why are there white nights in St. Petersburg?
White night is called daylight. White nights are like cloudy days. In order to find out what kind of natural phenomenon this is, you need to understand why it is dark at night. Planet Earth rotates not only around its own axis, but also around the sun. When the sun rotates in the shadow of the earth, it comes dark time days.
In St. Petersburg, during white nights there is no sunset. At night it is not dark, but only gloomy. Scientists call this natural phenomenon a polar day.
Sometimes the sun does not completely go beyond the horizon, but later a new day comes and the sun, without having time to go beyond the horizon, begins to gradually rise. As a result, the night does not have time to take over its legal rights when a new day begins again.
Where are the white nights? List of countries
Beautiful white nights occur not only in St. Petersburg, but also in Finland. Residents of Finland have been accustomed since childhood to dark nights, which last in their country for more than six months, and in hot weather, dark nights are replaced by an amazing phenomenon called the “midnight sun.”
More than all the people on planet Earth who have most often seen magical white nights are citizens of cold Finland. In the capital city of Helsinki, the sun does not set below the horizon for at least more than two months. And in the southern regions of the state, white nights come into their legal rights. Therefore, the sun does not disappear beyond the horizon even late at night. Finland has an incredibly short summer, and therefore at this time tourists and citizens walk in public gardens, and there are also daily performances by popular artists and children's plays.
IN summer time Every year, tourists come to Finland to see with their own eyes and photograph the splendor and charm of this city, take a walk through the beautiful forests, play golf with their friends, fish in a clear reservoir and swim in a boat.
One of the most beautiful natural phenomena - White Nights can be seen not only in the northern capital, but also in such states as:
- Estonia;
- Norway;
- Great Britain;
- Sweden;
- Canada;
- Greenland;
- Iceland;
- Finland;
- Denmark;
- Antarctica.
During the polar nights, various events and celebrations are organized in the city. Residents of the city believe that during the white nights there is no need to go to bed, but to have fun and walk.
For more than one century, St. Petersburg has rightfully been considered cultural capital. Every year many tourists come to see this wonderful city, and when there are white nights in St. Petersburg, the city simply comes alive.
Northern Lights - what is it?
The Northern Lights are a colorful sparkle in the skies. Usually northern lights shimmers with bluish-emerald lights and inserts of light pink and scarlet shades. These are a kind of colored stripes on the night sky that simply amaze the imagination with their ranges and tints. The Northern Lights are caused by numerous processes occurring on the Sun.
Air consists of a mixture of various gases. The sun throws off protons and electrons, and then they interfere with the air and meet the molecules of protons and electrons. During a strong collision, atoms lose their own electrons, and other atoms are excited, receiving a charge of energy. After the atom has completely calmed down, it slowly but surely emits a light photon.
When nitrogen molecules collide, they completely shed electrons and begin to emit dark blue and violet light. But when a molecule is excited without losing any electrons, it emits a scarlet color. When oxygen and solar wind molecules converge, the number of electrons does not change. The molecule becomes highly electrified and then emits scarlet and emerald light.
At the North Pole you can see the northern lights on any night, in Scandinavia - from twenty to two hundred times annually. In France and England you can see the northern lights seven times a year. And once there were even northern lights in Mexico.
How and where does a rainbow come from? Color order
A rainbow is a truly amazing natural phenomenon. Many peoples have thought about the nature of this phenomenon since ancient times. Rainbow is the mother of rain. And it appears after heavy rainfall.
Rainbow is multi-colored arc on the sky. This arc can be seen on the other side of the sky from the sun, while bright sun not covered by clouds. Most often, the beautiful arc can be seen in warm summers while walking after warm rain. Rainbows can also be observed near waterfalls or fountains.
The source of the multi-colored arc is the light of the bright sun, decomposed into components. A prism splits a beam of sunlight into its components. In the case of a rainbow, the role of the “prism” is played by raindrops.
The colors of the rainbow are in the following order:
- Red;
- Orange;
- Yellow;
- Green;
- Blue;
- Blue;
- Violet.
A rainbow can be seen when there is heavy rain and bright sunshine at the same time. To see a rainbow with your own eyes you need to stand between rain and sun. Provided that the rain is in front and the sun is behind.
There are many more amazing phenomena in nature. Romance is in the air when there are white nights in St. Petersburg, couples in love vow to each other eternal love and fidelity, and school graduates enter adulthood and dream about the future.
Video about white nights in St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg is one of the most popular cities in the world for tourists. It is a city with a great cultural and historical heritage, rich in museums and palaces. But the city is famous not only for its sights and architectural ensembles: St. Petersburg in the minds of many is associated with a unique phenomenon- white nights.
This is one of the symbols of the city, which is widely reflected in art. What are white nights, why do they occur in St. Petersburg, when do they begin and when do they end in 2018 - let’s consider these questions.
Many tourists choose this period to travel to the city - white nights, when northern capital shines in all its extraordinary beauty. Most frequently asked question, exciting tourists who are going to come to see the white nights with their own eyes - during what period they take place in St. Petersburg, when exactly they begin in 2018.
Cause of the phenomenon
Despite this poetic name, this phenomenon has a completely understandable scientific explanation. In common understanding, white nights are a period when night does not occur after sunset, that is, complete darkness. Speaking from a scientific point of view, the solar disk during this period drops below the horizon by only 6 degrees, which is why the usual night does not occur.
This phenomenon is typical for cities located near the Arctic Circle. It is noteworthy that geographically St. Petersburg does not belong to such cities, since it does not fall into this zone. But, nevertheless, the white nights can be called one of the “attractions” of the city.
Why do white nights occur in St. Petersburg at a certain period, if it does not fall into the zone for which this is typical, and when do white nights begin in 2018?
The fact is that in science there is a definition not of “white nights”, but of “civil” and “navigational” twilight. The first refers to the period when the sun drops 6 degrees below the horizon, which is why the sky does not darken and night does not fall. Navigation - when the disk drops no lower than 12 degrees, and St. Petersburg fits into this framework. For comparison, the duration of civil twilight in Moscow is no more than one hour.
Thus, white nights in St. Petersburg are a period when the solar disk does not fall below the horizon enough for darkness to set in. And formally, what we see is not night or day, but twilight.
When do white nights start in 2018? From an astronomical point of view, this is the period from June 11 to July 2. In practice, the nights become light already from May 25, and this period lasts until July 15.
Have you been to St. Petersburg during the white nights season?
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What awaits tourists this season?
The White Nights season is a period when twilight, which replaces night, allows you to walk until the morning along the streets of St. Petersburg and take photographs without using a flash. That is why the greatest influx of tourists occurs at this time. This should be taken into account when planning: it is recommended to take care of hotel rooms in advance, since during the peak season it can be difficult to find free rooms.
This is especially true at the end of June - the height of the season, when there are practically no unoccupied rooms.
During this period, the city hosts many cultural and entertainment events. These are all kinds of excursions around historical places cities. You can enjoy the beauty of the city's white nights by boat excursions, during which you can admire the drawbridges, from small bridges connecting canals to huge bridges, as well as all the unique attractions for which this museum city is famous: majestic palaces, monuments, architectural ensembles, cobblestone squares illuminated by hundreds of twinkling lights.
Guests and residents of the city will also enjoy the St. George Festival. Many premieres await you, as well as the best productions of the Mariinsky Theater and other theater stages in St. Petersburg.
It is impossible not to mention about. This is a colorful holiday that has become one of the business cards St. Petersburg. The program includes concerts, as well as a light show accompanied by a real schooner with scarlet sails gliding along the waves of the Neva.
White Nights, as we have seen, are one of the best and richest periods for festive events in St. Petersburg. This period accounts for the largest number of celebrations, festivals, and concerts. We found out when the white nights begin in 2018, so it will be easier for you to plan your program for visiting the city on the Neva. St. Petersburg is beautiful at any time, but it is during this period that you can feel the special atmosphere of this museum city!
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