Location

Location Information

Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (SGO) is located in central Lapland on the beautiful banks of the river Kitinen, 120 km north of the Arctic Circle and 7 km south of Sodankylä, in a small village called Tähtelä.

Click the guide to find location on the map:
or use the Infokartta or Eniro services.	Map of Tähtelä

About Finland:
Finland is a member of the European Union and the local currency is EURO (€). The population of Finland is just over 5 million.

About Sodankylä:
Sodankylä is one of the biggest local centres in Lapland with a population of about 10,000 and a surface area of 12,400 km². The most important research organizations located here are the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, which belongs to the University of Oulu, the Arctic Research Centre of Finnish Meteorological Institute, the EISCAT station, and the Ore Laboratory of Geological Survey of Finland.

Climate:
The time of the midnight sun lasts from 30^th May to 15^th July, and the polar night lasts from 19^th to 25^th December. The mean temperature in January is -14°C and in July +15°C. The snow cover usually lasts from 30^th October to 15^th May. There are about 150 nights of auroral displays per year and the probability of seeing aurora around the equinoxes is very high - provided the sky is clear.