Here comes the suns! Photographer travels through every time zone to capture 24 sunsets in ONE DAY


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Every day we see a sunset as Earth rotates and the sun moves below the horizon - but what if you flew in the direction of Earth's rotation so the sun never fully set?

That's exactly what one photographer did, flying in a small plane with a pilot and snapping a picture of the sun from every time zone.

The result is a montage of images that show's the sun never setting, as the photographer and his pilot raced against time to keep pace with Earth's spin.

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Brighton photographer Simon Roberts chased the sun around the plane to capture a picture of a sunset in all 24 time zones (entire collection shown). In a plane with a pilot and co-pilot, he travelled around the North Pole, which meant they could travel at a speed that kept pace with the sun

Brighton photographer Simon Roberts chased the sun around the plane to capture a picture of a sunset in all 24 time zones (entire collection shown). In a plane with a pilot and co-pilot, he travelled around the North Pole, which meant they could travel at a speed that kept pace with the sun

For the video, called Chasing Horizons, Simon Roberts from Brighton, and his pilot travelled to the North Pole.

WHY ARE SUNSETS RED? 

When the sun's light passes through the atmosphere, it is refracted by particles.

In the process light is moved towards the red end of the visible light spectrum, which makes it appear red to us on Earth.

This is basically because light has to travel further through the atmosphere when the sun is lower.

And this means that more light is refracted, so the effect is more apparent when the sun sets.

Here the distance between time zones is small, letting the airplane more easily keep up with the velocity of Earth.

If they had attempted the stunt at the equator, they would have needed to fly at more than 1,000mph (1,600 km/h).

The result is a picture of a sunset in each of Earth's 24 time zones.

'When I first got the call from this job my initial reaction is: "how the hell are they going to do this?" photographer Mr Roberts explains in the video.

They had to account for the angle of Earth, wind, refuelling stops, aircraft capability and temperature to make the mission a success.

'I never thought I would make a series of work about sunsets because it is probably one of the most clichéd things to photograph,' explained Mr Roberts.

'You type sunset into Google and you'll come up with 100 million photographs. 

'So how can you do something different, how can I as a photographer create a series that is any different from the millions of photographs you see every day?

'And here was this idea that took it to the limits, to the edge of what is possible to some extent, of creating almost a perpetual sunset.'

During a single day, Mr Roberts took a picture of the sun setting in all 24 times zones. The team had to fly non-stop with only two opportunities to refuel. The feat was commissioned by the company Citizen Watch. 'I never thought I would make a series of work about sunsets,' explained Mr Roberts

During a single day, Mr Roberts took a picture of the sun setting in all 24 times zones. The team had to fly non-stop with only two opportunities to refuel. The feat was commissioned by the company Citizen Watch. 'I never thought I would make a series of work about sunsets,' explained Mr Roberts

'When I first got the call from this job my initial reaction is:

'When I first got the call from this job my initial reaction is: "how the hell are they going to do this?"' - Mr Roberts explains in the video. The pilot explained how they had to account for the angle of Earth, wind, refuelling stops, aircraft capability and temperature to take the shots (one shown)

Starting from Iceland the duo, commissioned by the company Citizen Watch as part of a promotional campaign for their Eco-Drive Satellite Wave F100 watch, made their way around Earth's circumference, refuelling in Greenland.

'Our flight route did not previously exist,' the company explained on its website.

'It is not a route flown by airlines, or pilots. It had to be calculated precisely for our mission.'

The team completed the mission in late February, when the days were still long, bright and clear and before the Polar Days of March when the sun never sets.

In the most remote part of the Arctic Circle, the duo lost their radio connection and navigation system, as was expected to happen.

This meant they had to use paper maps and the placement of the sun to navigate.

The team flew around the planet at a latitude of 80°, which meant that they could fly at a manageable speed in order to keep up with the sun. Had they tried the same feat near the equator, they would have needed to travel at more than 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h). The speeds at each latitude is pictured

The team flew around the planet at a latitude of 80°, which meant that they could fly at a manageable speed in order to keep up with the sun. Had they tried the same feat near the equator, they would have needed to travel at more than 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h). The speeds at each latitude is pictured

During the first stop, the team landed in Greenland (shown), where they had to refuel and take off again in 20 minutes before oil in the plane became unusable and it was grounded

During the first stop, the team landed in Greenland (shown), where they had to refuel and take off again in 20 minutes before oil in the plane became unusable and it was grounded

The team refuelled twice, with the second stop not shown in the video.

This is because it was done near the Arctic Circle, where temperatures were around -50°C (-122°F) - too cold for cameras to operate.

During both stops, the crew had just 20 minutes to refuel, because any longer and oil in the aircraft would become 'gloopy', leaving it stranded.

The mission lasted more than 24 hours in total, with a pilot and co-pilot sharing shifts.

In the video, called Chasing Horizons, Simon Roberts from Brighton and his pilot travel to the North Pole. Here, the distance between time zones is small, letting the airplane more easily keep up with the velocity of Earth. The duo planned the plane to fly at a latitude of 80° (shown)

In the video, called Chasing Horizons, Simon Roberts from Brighton and his pilot travel to the North Pole. Here, the distance between time zones is small, letting the airplane more easily keep up with the velocity of Earth. The duo planned the plane to fly at a latitude of 80° (shown)

'And here was this idea that took it to the limits, to the edge of what is possible to some extent, of creating almost a perpetual sunset,' said Mr Roberts

'And here was this idea that took it to the limits, to the edge of what is possible to some extent, of creating almost a perpetual sunset,' said Mr Roberts



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