EDMONTON -- There's good news today for Edmontonians who are feeling in the dark.
It may not be the winter solstice—the shortest day of the year—but Friday marks the earliest sunset of the year in Edmonton.
The sun will set in Alberta's capital at 4:13 p.m. On Saturday, it will set at 4:14 p.m. and keep getting later until the longest day of the year, the summer solstice on June 21.
The University of Alberta Observatory called it a "very special day in Edmonton."
Morning sunrises, however, are getting later and days will still get shorter until Dec. 21, the winter solstice, known for having the least amount of daylight in the year.
"The fact that today is not the Solstice is due to the Earth's slightly elliptical orbit," the observatory said. "Unfortunately, we're unlikely to see the Sun today."
Sharon Morsink, an associate professor of physics at the university, said while the later sunsets will be incremental and barely noticeable, they still represent an end to the darkest days of winter.
"Just knowing that things are going to get better, that we can somehow get through the winter, is always important for us here in Edmonton," she said.
But longer nights do come with an upside for observatory staff and visitors, she said.
"What happens is when sunsets are late, that makes it possible for us to do stargazing in the evening where you don't have to stay up so late."
This year, the winter solstice will see just seven hours, 27 minutes and 42 seconds of daylight.
As the northernmost metropolitan area in Canada, Edmonton gets the least amount of light in the winter of any major Canadian city, but the most amount of daylight in the summer at 17 hours.
