Photographer Captures World’s Northernmost Settlement During Polar Night

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Image by @mariasahai / Instagram

Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and capital of Svalbard Archipelago.

Photographer Maria Sahai leads photography tours in the Arctic and Svalbard is one of her favorite destinations in the world. She spent her last 4 Christmas eves at 78 degrees North in Longyearbyen, where a population of 2000+ people live. The sun doesn’t rise from October till February and during these 24-hour nights are the perfect time to capture Northern Lights.

Scroll down to see the beauty of this northernmost settlement.

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There are so many adjectives I could use to describe the Northern Lights. 🤔 But all of them would look pathetic comparing to the epic classical Roman report from 77 CE. It described the phenomena as "yawning" of the sky, accompanied by blood an fire falling to earth. 😴👹🔥 . . . . . #nightimages #svalbard #mittsvalbard #norgefoto #nordnorge #ig_norway #norway2day #thelensbible #nightshooters #longexpohunter #amazing_longexpo #princely_shotz #sky_central #universetoday #northernlights #bestnatureshot #nature_brilliance #natgeotravel #heatercentral #theimaged #yourshotphotographer #awesomeearth #visitsvalbard #travelgram #picturetokeep_nature #waycoolshots #ig_photostars #everything_imaginable #travelphoto

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Rare Daytime Aurora. 🌌🙌 Svalbard is one of the few inhabited places on Earth where you can witness this phenomenon. Usually, the Northern Lights are observed from late evening till early morning. But the settlement of Longyearbeyen is situated so far up north, that you can see the daytime Aurora Borealis from 5 am till 3 pm. 🕰️🔭 . . . . . . #northernlights #auroraborealis #theoutbound #mystopover #adventurethatislife #exploringtheglobe #travelstoke #lppathfinders #everything_imaginable #fujiframez #arctic #theglobewanderer #ig_norway #norway2day #mittsvalbard #mittnordnorge #ig_nordnorge #nortrip #norgefoto #longyearbyen #wu_norway #visitsvalbard #svalbard #arctic #fujifeed #fujifilmnordic #teamfujifilm #fujixclub #fujiframez

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Got lucky with the Northern Lights today, while photographing one of the most important places on Earth. The triangle on the right is an entrance into the Global Seed Vault. 🌱🌏🌱 "It is a long-term seed storage facility, built to stand the test of time — and the challenge of natural or man-made disasters. The Seed Vault represents the world’s largest collection of crop diversity" – says its description on www.croptrust.org. On the same website you can do a virtual visit inside the seed vault, BTW 🤓 . . . . . #ig_norway #norway2day #thelensbible #fujifeed #fujifilmnordic #princely_shotz #northernlights #nature_brilliance #mittsvalbard #auroraborealis #lppathfinders #yourshotphotographer #awesomeearth #visitnorway #picturetokeep_nature #night_shooterz #ig_photostars #everything_imaginable #fujiframez #arctic #theglobewanderer #letsgosomewhere #optoutside #travelstoke #norgefoto #longyearbyen #wu_norway #visitsvalbard #nightphotography #svalbard

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I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said that I got reeeeeally lucky to capture this image in 2015 in #longyearbyen, #svalbard. 😎 The pink glow was caused by the sunlight being reflected by stratospheric clouds. The position of the clouds between Svalbard and the Scandinavian mainland is the main cause of the red light rays. Although similar red skies were seen on the Archipelago in 2014, the phenomenon has not otherwise occurred since the early 2000s. . . . . . . #visitsvalbard #visitnorway #arctic #yrbilder #mittnorge #northernlights #northernnorway #getoutstayout #spitsbergen #winterwonderland #night_shooterz #travelstoke #illgrammers #ig_masterpiece #ig_nordnorge #ig_exquisite #ilovescandinavia #yourshotphotographer #auroraborealis #shotzdelight #theglobewanderer #thelensbible #thebestofnorway #letsgosomewhere #roamtheplanet #main_vision #natgeotravel #norgefoto

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One of the legends of Norse mythology suggests that the lights were reflections or glow from the shields and armour of the Valkyrie, female warriors who would choose who may die in battle and who may live to fight another day. ⠀ As you may have guessed I have survived the battle with the cold while taking this picture in Svalbard last December.⠀ 📷 Fujifilm X-T1 .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #nightimages #svalbard #mittsvalbard #norgefoto #nordnorge #ig_norway #norway2day #thelensbible #nightshooters #longexpohunter #amazing_longexpo #princely_shotz #sky_central #universetoday #northernlights #bestnatureshot #nature_brilliance #natgeotravel #heatercentral #theimaged #yourshotphotographer #awesomeearth #visitnorway #travelgram #picturetokeep_nature #waycoolshots #ig_photostars #everything_imaginable #travelphoto

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