Land of the Midnight Sun

    Take a walk down the street in Fairbanks, Alaska, on June 21. There’s Mr. Freeman, mowing his lawn. The Wells family is having a barbecue. Dogs bark and kids play in backyards. 

    Now head downtown for a street festival. You can grab a hot dog and hear some live music. Soon the big baseball game will begin. The sun is just starting to set as you wipe some sweat from your forehead.

    This might sound like a typical summer day, but then you check the time.

    It’s . . . 11 p.m.?

    Welcome to the land of the midnight sun.

    Take a walk through Fairbanks, Alaska, on June 21. A man is mowing his lawn. A family is having a barbecue. Dogs bark. Kids play. 

    Go to the street festival. You can grab a hot dog. You can hear live music. Soon the big baseball game will start. The sun is starting to set. You wipe some sweat from your forehead.

    This might sound like any old summer day. But check the time.

    It’s . . . 11 p.m.?

    Welcome to the land of the midnight sun.

    Walk down the street in Fairbanks, Alaska, on June 21. You’ll see Mr. Freeman mowing his lawn and the Wells family having a barbecue. Dogs bark excitedly, and children play in their backyards. 

    At the street festival downtown, you can grab a hot dog and hear some live music. Soon the big baseball game will start. The sun is just starting to set as you wipe some sweat from your forehead.

    This might sound like an ordinary summer day, but then you check the time.

    It’s . . . 11 p.m.?

    Welcome to the land of the midnight sun.

    That’s right: For 70 days between May and July, it never gets dark in Fairbanks. Every night, the sun dips low in the sky. Just when it seems like it’s going to disappear beyond the horizon, it climbs back up. Why does this happen?

    It has to do with the angle of our planet. Every 24 hours, Earth rotates on its axis. The side that faces the sun experiences daylight. For the side that’s facing away from the sun, it’s night. But Earth is not perfectly straight—it’s tilted. And during the summer months, the top of Earth is tilted toward the sun. So for areas above or near the Arctic Circle, the sun is pointed at them all day long.

    Of course, it’s not all sunshine. In the winter months, the top of Earth is tilted away from the sun. That means in places with the midnight sun, daytime is very short in the winter. In some spots, the sun doesn’t come up for months.

    That’s right: For 70 days between May and July, it never gets dark in Fairbanks. Every night, the sun dips low in the sky. It seems like it will disappear. Then it climbs back up. Why?

    It has to do with the angle of our planet. Every 24 hours, Earth turns in a full circle. For the side that’s facing the sun, there’s daylight. For the side that’s facing away from the sun, it’s night. But Earth is not perfectly straight. It’s tilted. And during the summer months, the top of Earth is tilted toward the sun. So areas above or near the Arctic Circle get sun all day long.

    Of course, it’s not all sunshine. In the winter months, the top of Earth is tilted away from the sun. So in places with the midnight sun, daytime is very short in the winter. Some spots get no sun for months.

    For 70 days between May and July, it never gets dark in Fairbanks. Every night, the sun dips low in the sky—and just when it seems like it’s going to disappear beyond the horizon, it climbs back up. Why does this happen?

    It has to do with the angle of our planet. Every 24 hours, Earth makes one full revolution on its axis. The side that faces the sun experiences daylight, and the side that’s facing away from the sun is in darkness. But Earth isn’t perfectly straight—it’s tilted, and the top of the planet is angled toward the sun during the summer months. So for areas above or near the Arctic Circle, the sun is pointed at them all day long.

    Of course, it isn’t all sunshine. In the winter months, the top of Earth is tilted away from the sun—so in places with the midnight sun, daytime is very short in the winter. In some spots, the sun doesn’t come up for months.

    In Fairbanks, people celebrate the midnight sun. Every year there’s a festival—complete with a baseball game that starts at 10:30 p.m. Tourists rush north to get a taste of endless summer days. But for people who live there, it’s not such a big deal.

    “We’re used to it,” says Brennan, 14. He and his friend Lily, also 14, have lived in Fairbanks their whole lives. During the bright summer and the dark winter, not much changes about their daily routine. “Day or night, light or dark, we do our normal things,” Lily says. 

    Sometimes normal just means having soccer practice at 10 p.m. 

    In Fairbanks, people celebrate the midnight sun. Every year there’s a festival. There’s a baseball game that starts at     10:30 p.m. Tourists come for the endless days. But for the people who live there, it’s no big deal.

    “We’re used to it,” says Brennan. He’s 14. He and his friend Lily, also 14, have lived in Fairbanks their whole lives. During the bright summer and the dark winter, not much changes for them. “Day or night, light or dark, we do our normal things,” says Lily.

    Sometimes normal just means having soccer practice at 10 p.m.

    In Fairbanks, people celebrate the midnight sun with an annual festival—complete with a baseball game that starts at 10:30 p.m. Tourists flock northward to get a taste of endless summer days, but the nonstop daylight doesn’t seem all that remarkable to residents.

    “We’re used to it,” explains Brennan, 14. He and his friend Lily, also 14, have lived in Fairbanks their whole lives. During the bright summers and the dark winters, very little changes about their daily routine. “Day or night, light or dark, we do our normal things,” Lily says.

    Sometimes normal just means having soccer practice at 10 p.m.