Arrival in Kiruna
...so I made it across the polar circle yesterday!
This is my third time in Lapland:
During parental leave in 2014 we drove to North Cape with our camper van in summer to see the midnight sun. Back then I fell in love with this part of the world.
In 2016 we returned for a winter holiday in Ivalo, Finland. I started to like the snow as well (I was more a hot desert type of person).
Anyway two stop-overs and I am in Kiruna, North Sweden. A mining town with lots of lights. I picked up luggage and rental car within 15 mins and the walk from airplane to parking lot is 3 mins. this is a relaxing airport.
Everything seems very bright. I took some illuminance measurements and they were OK between 10lx and 55lx.
So how bright is the night sky? First SQM reading near airport was 19.3 mag/arcsec^2 in downtown Kiruna (near the Sami church) it was 17.7 mag/arcsec^2. There were no visible clouds that time.
This is my third time in Lapland:
During parental leave in 2014 we drove to North Cape with our camper van in summer to see the midnight sun. Back then I fell in love with this part of the world.
In 2016 we returned for a winter holiday in Ivalo, Finland. I started to like the snow as well (I was more a hot desert type of person).
Anyway two stop-overs and I am in Kiruna, North Sweden. A mining town with lots of lights. I picked up luggage and rental car within 15 mins and the walk from airplane to parking lot is 3 mins. this is a relaxing airport.
Everything seems very bright. I took some illuminance measurements and they were OK between 10lx and 55lx.
So how bright is the night sky? First SQM reading near airport was 19.3 mag/arcsec^2 in downtown Kiruna (near the Sami church) it was 17.7 mag/arcsec^2. There were no visible clouds that time.
Kiruna from above |
No way you can mix up flights here...only one aircraft at a time :D |
The "snowfield" has a nice floodlight so you cant miss the airport |
Sami church in Kiruna |
This is Kiruna central everything appears bright lamp in front has 10lx on ground lamp in back 55 lx on ground - not too crazy but the snow makes it look bright |
Downtown |
Not too crazy? As road lighting is normally measured by luminance, they could reduce lighting levels by at least a factor of 5-6. And nobody in the streets? So they could save a lot of energy and keep the sky darker....
AntwortenLöschenYou are absolutely right! There is plenty of potential to reduce light levels up here, use on-demand lighting, late-night reduction etc. I meant not "Rathenow-crazy" ;)
LöschenGood luck for clear and dark skies, Andy!
AntwortenLöschen