Midnight sun

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See the section Popular culture below for novels and other popular culture related to the Midnight Sun.
The midnight sun at Nordkapp, Norway.
The midnight sun at Nordkapp, Norway.
The Arctic Cathedral with surroundings in Tromsø illuminated by the midnight sun.
The Arctic Cathedral with surroundings in Tromsø illuminated by the midnight sun.
Midnight sun in Kiruna, Sweden.
Midnight sun in Kiruna, Sweden.

The midnight sun is a phenomenon occurring in latitudes north and nearby to the south of the Arctic Circle and south and nearby to the north of the Antarctic Circle where the sun remains visible at the local midnight. Given fair weather, the sun is visible for a continuous 24 hours, mostly north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle. The number of days per year with potential midnight sun increases the further poleward one goes.

There are no permanent human settlements south of the Antarctic Circle, so the countries and territories whose populations experience it are limited to the ones crossed by the Arctic Circle, i.e. Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and extremities of Iceland. A quarter of Finland's territory lies north of the Arctic Circle and at the country's northernmost point the sun does not set for 73 days during summer. In Svalbard, Norway, the northernmost inhabited region of Europe, there is no sunset from approximately April 19th to August 23rd. The extreme sites are the poles where the sun can be continuously visible for a half year.

The opposite phenomenon, polar night, occurs in winter when the sun stays below the horizon throughout the day.

Since the Earth's axis is tilted with respect to the ecliptic by approximately 23 degrees 27 minutes, the sun does not set at high latitudes in (local) summer. The duration of the midnight sun increases from one day during the summer solstice at the polar circle to approximately six months at the poles. At extreme latitudes, it is usually referred to as polar day. The length of the time the sun is above the horizon varies from 20 hours at the Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle to 186 days at the poles.

At the poles themselves, the sun only rises once and sets once, each year. During the six months when the sun is above the horizon at the poles, the sun spends the days constantly moving around the horizon, reaching its highest circuit of the sky at the summer solstice.

Due to refraction, the midnight sun may be experienced at latitudes slightly below the polar circle, though not exceeding one degree (depending on local conditions). For example, it is possible to experience the midnight sun in Iceland, even though most of it (Grímsey being a notable exception) is slightly south of the Arctic Circle. Even the northern extremities of the Scotland (and those places on similar latitudes) experience a permanent "dusk" or glare in the northern skies at these times.

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[edit] White night

The Alexander Nevsky Bridge in Saint Petersburg, drawn at white night.
The Alexander Nevsky Bridge in Saint Petersburg, drawn at white night.

Locations above 60 degrees latitude that are south of the Arctic Circle or north of the Antarctic Circle experience midnight twilight instead. The sun is at the horizon to 6 degrees below the horizon, so that daytime activities, such as reading, are still possible without artificial light, on the condition it is not cloudy.

White nights have become a common symbol of Saint Petersburg, Russia, where they occur from about 11 June to 11 July, and the last 10 days of June are celebrated with cultural events.

[edit] Effect on people

Many find it difficult to fall asleep during the night when the sun is shining. In general, visitors and newcomers are most affected. Some natives are also affected, but in general to a lesser degree. The effect of the polar night, that is, not experiencing day for long durations of time is said to cause "Seasonal Affective Disorder" or S.A.D., a type of depression caused by lack of natural light. High-intensity daylight-spectrum lamps and tanning beds are a popular solution for relief from S.A.D.

[edit] Popular culture

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[edit] Literature

  • "Integration Under the Midnight Sun" [1] by Adnan Mahmutovic [2] is a short story about Bosnian refugees in Sweden.
  • "Midnight Sun" is a novel by Ramsey Campbell and also a novel by RC Duggan.
  • Midnight Sun appears in the opening lines - "There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold." - of the famous and striking poem by Robert W. Service (1874-1958) entitled "The Cremation of Sam McGee".
  • Midnight Sun is the name of a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe.
  • "Midnight's Sun - A Story of Wolves" is the title of Garry Kilworths 1990 novel.
  • Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns is the title of the 2006 collection of short stories by J. California Cooper.

* Midnight Sun is an upcoming book that is currently being written by author Stephenie Meyer. It will be a retelling of her first novel, Twilight, from Edward Cullen's perspective.

[edit] Film and television

  • The movie "Insomnia" tells the story of a fictional police detective in Norway who suffers from insomnia due to, among other things, the midnight sun. A 2002 remake of the film, starring Al Pacino as the insomniac detective, is set in Alaska.
  • "Midnight Sun" is the name of a Japanese film.
  • "The Midnight Sun" is the title of an original Twilight Zone episode.
  • Most of the plot of the movie "White Nights" takes place during a midnight sun period in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg now) and Siberia.
  • "Midnight Sun" is the theme and title of an episode from TV-series taking place in Alaska, Northern Exposure, season 4.
  • The movie "Lovers of the Arctic Circle" (1998) by Julio Medem references the cyclical nature of the midnight sun.
  • Byakuyakou; Also known as: Midnight Sun Journey is the title of a Japanese drama.

[edit] Music

[edit] Games and sports

  • The Midnight Sun Game is a baseball game played annually on the night of the summer solstice in Fairbanks, Alaska.
  • Midnight Sun is the name of a Multi User Dungeon (MUD) game[1].
  • In the PC game Battlefield 2, a map in the Armored Fury booster pack is called Midnight Sun and takes place in Alaska during the night.
  • In the PC game Deus Ex, a fictional newspaper containing conspiracy theories which can be read at several points throughout the game is named Midnight Sun.
  • In the Live Action Game/Sport Amtgard, there is a Duchey named "Midnight Sun" in Garland, TX
The Tromsø Midnight Sun Marathon is a marathon run known for actually running in the midnight sun.

[edit] See also


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