Novaya Zemlya, Arctic Circle

Novaya Zemlya, meaning “New Land” in Russian is a remote and desolate archipelago in the Russian Arctic, located north of the mainland.

The archipelago has an elongated, roughly crescent shape, consisting of two main islands: Severny (Northern) and Zuzhny (Southern).  They are separated by the narrow Matochkin Strait and flanked by the Barents Sea to the west and Kara Sea to the east.

Though Novaya Zemlya has been known since the 11^th century, it wasn’t “rediscovered” by Europeans until Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz stumbled upon it in 1594 while sailing northward from the Russian coast, searching for a northeast passage to Asia.  On a return voyage a few years later, Barentsz and his crew were stranded on the islands due to ice.  It was here they first observed and documented a strange optical phenomenon now known as the Novaya Zemlya Effect.

This fascinating atmospheric trick happens when light bends due to the cold air near the Earth’s surface, allowing distant objects to appear much farther away or even beyond the horizon.  The crew noticed this when the sun appeared to rise earlier than expected, even though it was still below the horizon.

In the Arctic, unusual weather conditions often created the perfect setup for this effect.  It can cause distant objects, such as ships or land far beyond the horizon, to become visible simply because the light is bending around the Earth.  It’s a phenomenon observed for centuries by explorers and sailors.