Earth’s rotation gives us day in some places and night in others. But what about the poles, where sunlight behaves very differently from the rest of the world? Every year, several thousand people living in towns within the Arctic Circle experience a dramatic reality: a very long night is coming, lasting up to six months in some regions.
During this half year, near the North Pole, temperatures drop to truly frigid levels. Cities and towns surrender to an environment that feels hostile to the rest of the planet as winter dominates the landscape.
The polar night forms from a combination of Earth’s translation and rotation, along with its elliptical orbit around the Sun. Because of these motions, the tilt of the planet causes the Sun to stay below the horizon at the North Pole once a year, initiating the polar night. The Sun does not rise during this period, and the degree of darkness varies by location; the penumbra is not total in all regions.
The closer a place is to the North Pole, the darker the skies tend to be, while areas farther away may experience clearer intervals.
Northern lights during polar night in Lofoten (Norway)
The polar night begins at the North Pole on September 23, the autumn equinox. It lasts for six months without seeing the Sun, until the spring equinox arrives, when a continuous polar day with 24 hours of light returns.
The reverse situation at the South Pole
While the phenomenon unfolds in the north, a reverse scenario plays out in the southern hemisphere. There, the period of uninterrupted daylight begins during the southern winter. Records note that these cycles occur during the winter months, spanning from September to March in the northern hemisphere and from March to September in the southern hemisphere.
For travelers hoping to witness this unusual event, several destinations across Alaska, Sweden, Greenland, Russia, and Norway offer opportunities to observe polar night. The remote archipelago of Svalbard, in the heart of the Arctic Ocean, becomes bathed in prolonged darkness from the 23rd, especially from November to January. More visitors are drawn to Svalbard not only for this phenomenon but also to enjoy the spectacular Northern Lights.
The polar night is denser the farther north, as shown by various observations.
Inside Alaska lies a town of about 4,400 residents named Barrow. Neighbors gather around November 20 each year to witness the last sunset of the year. The community bids farewell to sunshine for more than 60 days, until January 23, when the first bright star returns to the horizon. The local rhythm slows considerably during this period, and many residents relocate temporarily to other areas to cope with the lack of daylight.
Nurmansk is a populated place in Russia. It is one of the largest settlements within the Arctic Circle, with around 295,000 inhabitants, and serves as a strategic coal extraction hub that remains in near darkness for roughly 40 days. Its polar night is slightly shorter because this location sits a bit farther from the North Pole than some others.
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