Norwegian Town Creates Artificial Sun to Lighten Winter Skies

The Norwegian town of Rjukan, population 3,386, doesn't get much sunlight during the long, cold winter, so they've decided to create their own artificial sun.

Engineers are completing a project called The Mirror - installing three 300-square-foot heliostats that will reflect winter sunlight down into the valley and transform the town square into a sunbathing spot. The mirrors can track the movement of the sun via computer control.

Rjukan isn't the first town in Europe to build an artificial sun. Viganella, Italy, is also nestled in a valley floor and receives no direct sunlight for 82 days each year. In 2006, the Italian town installed a 26-foot-wide mirror on the mountaintop to reflect sunlight into the community below.