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A small town in Alaska has bid goodbye to the Sun for this year and will see next daylight in 2021.
Image courtesy Zee News
A town in Alaska has bid goodbye to the Sun and will see the next daylight in 2021. Formerly known as Barrow, in the town of Utqiagvik, the sun set for the last time in 2020 on November 19 for a span of over 60 days.
The small town located on the north of the Arctic Circle has entered its annual phase of darkness. The occurrence is known as polar night. The phenomenon takes place during winters because of the tilt of the axis of the Earth, CNN reported.
The polar night occurs in the northernmost and southernmost regions of the Earth when the night lasts for more than 24 hours. This occurs only inside the polar circles.
“Polar night is a normal phenomenon that happens every winter for Barrow (Utqiagvik), and any other towns inside the Arctic circle. This tilt makes it so that none of the Sun’s disc is visible above the horizon,” said CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar.
The CNN meteorologist clarified that entering the phase of darkness doesn’t indicate that the town will be merged in darkness. Most of the daytime hours will go through periods known as civil twilight, said Chinchar.
“Think of what the sky looks like just before sunrise, or just after sunset. That is what they see for several hours a day, from now until January 22, when the sun will “officially rise” again,” said Chinchar.
However, this phenomenon is not exclusive to this town only but it is the first on the polar night location list because of its far north location.
Meanwhile, the people of Utqiagvik experience in summer is the complete opposite when there are 24 hours of daylight. That phenomenon is known as a midnight sun or polar day.
News Credit Zee News