Chasing the sunset
Fly west fast enough at high latitude and the sunset stops — or even runs backwards. The globe here is lit by the real position of the sun at every moment of the flight.
Chasing the sunset
Physics, not magic
Why it works
The Earth turns 15 degrees of longitude every hour. At the equator that is about 900 knots — far faster than any business jet. But lines of latitude get shorter towards the poles: at 60° north, keeping pace with the sun takes only about 450 knots, which is well within the cruise speed of a modern long-range jet.
The route
This simulation leaves Helsinki at sunset on the March equinox, flies west to Reykjavik and on over Greenland and northern Canada to Anchorage. On the first leg the sun hangs on the horizon; on the second, after a brief dusk over Greenland, the jet outruns it and the sun climbs back up the sky.
Try it for real
Airline passengers notice the same effect on evening flights west from Europe to North America: a sunset that seems to last for hours. The globe lighting and the sun angle shown here are calculated for each simulated moment.
The route
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