Midnight Sun & Polar Night
Know that the poles can have months without sunset in summer and months without sunrise in winter. These patterns are called midnight sun and polar night. Compare them with daily daylight and darkness far from the polar regions.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Describe midnight sun: in polar summer, the Sun stays above the horizon all day and night
- Describe polar night as a full day and night or longer without sunrise, with duration varying by place
- Compare polar daylight patterns with daily daylight and darkness far from the polar regions
1 · Read
At the poles, the Sun can stay above the horizon all day and night in summer. The horizon is the line where the sky seems to meet land or sea. There can be months without sunset. This is called midnight sun.
Polar night happens in winter. The Sun stays below the horizon for a full day and night or longer, without rising. Its length varies by place. Near the edges of polar regions, it is shorter. Closer to the poles, it can last weeks or months. Some polar places still have a faint sky glow called twilight.
Mia lives far from the polar regions. Daylight and darkness take turns each day there. They do not always last the same number of hours. At a pole, summer can have months without sunset and winter can have months without sunrise.
Midnight sun means no sunset. Polar night means no sunrise for a full day and night or longer. It can include twilight, and its length varies by place.
2 · Watch
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Where it sits
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Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.