The Arctic Home in the Vedas c6.28

c6.28

"There is a peculiarity at the place, where the latitude is greater than 66° N. Whenever the northern declination of the sun exceeds the complement of the latitude, there will be perpetual day, for such time as that excess continues. Similarly, when the southern ( declination exceeds ), there will be perpetual night. On Meru, therefore, there is equal half-yearly perpetual day and night." Thus if the latitude of a place be 70°, its complement will be 90 - 70 = 20°; and as the sun's height above the celestial equator ( that is, his declination) is never greater than 23° 28', there will be a continuous day at the place, so long as the declination is greater than 20° and less than 23° 28', and there will be a similar continuous night when the sun is in the southern hemisphere. Paul Du Chaillu mentions that at Nordkyn or North Cape ( N. lat. 71° 6' 50" ), the northernmost place on the continent of Europe, the long night commences on 18th November, and ends on 24th January, lasting, in all, for 67 days of twenty-four hours each.