Happy Midsummer

Today is midsummer's eve here in Sweden, a time to celebrate that the summer has finally arrived. Here's a shot from Björkliden in northern Sweden. In the distance you can see the famous u-shaped valley called Lapporten.

Midnight Summer Solstice Sun

Last night the Sun went from spring to summer during the summer solstice. At the time I was above the article circle so I could see the Sun throughout the entire night. The weather was really bad during the day but cleared up around 19:00 UTC. Seeing the midnight Sun is really special and I'm so happy that the weather cleared up during the solstice. I was also able to see the full Moon rise and it's quite awesome to be able to see both the Sun and the full Moon during the night.

Midnight Solstice Sun in Gällivare, Sweden

Full Moon rising in the light of the midnight Sun

Here's a time lapse movie showing the Sun move across the sky. As you can see the Sun never sets below the horizon, it gets blocked blocked by clouds at one point.

Strawberry Moon

On Monday it's time for another Strawberry full moon to rise, one of the more beautiful moon rises of the year. The full moon of June got its Strawberry name because the Algonquin tribes knew it as a signal to gather ripening fruit. This is a shot of the Strawberry moon rise back in 2014.

Orion Constellation

One of my favorite constellations is Orion, here in the northern hemisphere is best visible during the winter. Here's a shot from march this year showing a panoramic view to the South West. It's a 2x2 shot panorama. It was taken in a small village called Rörvattnet in Jämtland, Sweden. This village is located in a very remote location with a beautiful dark sky which makes it perfect for astrophotography.

Orion Constellation 

Annotated version

Historic solar halo

Here's a shot from last week showing a 22° solar halo over the old church in Oviken, Jämtland, Sweden. The old church was first built during the middle ages and was then rebuilt as it looks today in the 18th century.

Halo over the old church of Oviken, Jämtland, Sweden

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June starts off with a halo

Yesterday, on the 1st of June, this beautiful halo emerged for a couple of hours during early afternoon. I was out scouting for new photo locations when I saw that a faint solar halo started to form. I drove to this church to get a nice foreground together with the halo. This is the new church of Oviken, Jamtland, Sweden. It was built in 1903 - 1905.

Solar halo over the new church of Oviken.

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