December 21 marks the the shortest day of the year for the northern hemisphere. Each day has slowly been getting shorter until this point. So look on the bright side (pun intended), while the days get colder for the next few months, they are getting longer too!

When I first considered moving to Olds 7 years ago to get to know Naomi better and convince her to marry me I didn’t realize how far north it was compared to my home in southern New Brunswick. I packed my telescope along thinking I would be able to take advantage of the clear Alberta sky during the summer of 2001.

I arrived in late May as the sun was getting near it’s highest and the days their longest. We were tired after a long drive, but we all thought that it was much too early to go to bed as the sky was still very bright. Finally someone looked at their watch and we realized that it was 10:30 and promptly headed off to bed.

I never actually used the telescope that summer as I discovered that the sky doesn’t get truly dark this far north during the summer. The sun stayed up much later and even going outside at 1:00 AM the sky is still a dark blue, with the sun not far below the horizon. I could see maybe a few dozen stars..

Of course the opposite was true in the winter, but it gets much colder here too! During that winter I worked in a bakery and often would not see the sun all week. I would come to work before the sun came up and went home in the dark. My co-workers went for frequent smoke breaks, so they would see the sun, but it was also -20 C, and I didn’t go outside just for fun.

Olds, AB:
Elevation 902 m

For June 21, longest day of the year
Morning twilight: 4:24 (make sure you blinds are closed!)
Sunrise: 5:14
Sunset: 10:00
Evening twilight: 10:49
Daylight hours: 16 hrs, 46 min

For Dec 21, shortest day of the year
Morning twilight: 8:01
Sunrise: 8:42
Sunset: 16:25
Evening twilight: 17:06
Daylight hours: 7 hrs, 42 min

Owen Sound, ON:
Elevation 222 m

For June 21
Morning twilight: 5:01
Sunrise: 5:38
Sunset: 9:13
Evening twilight: 9:50
Daylight hours: 15 hrs, 35 min

For Dec 21
Morning twilight: 7:25
Sunrise: 7:58
Sunset: 16:46
Evening twilight: 17:20
Daylight hours: 8 hrs, 47 min

Sackville, NB:
Elevation 24 m

For June 21
Morning twilight: 4:48
Sunrise: 5:27
Sunset: 9:13
Evening twilight: 9:52
Daylight hours: 15 hrs, 46 min

For Dec 21
Morning twilight: 7:23
Sunrise: 7:58
Sunset: 16:35
Evening twilight: 17:10
Daylight hours: 8 hrs, 37 min

During the summer Olds gets an hour more sunlight than my hometown of Sackville (good), and in the winter an hour less (bad). Gee.. I would really hate to live in a place like Yellowknife..