Midnight sun
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The midnight sun is a phenomenon occurring in latitudes north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle where the sun is visible at the local midnight. Given fair weather conditions, the sun is visible for a continuous 24 hours. Since there are no permanent human settlements south of the Antarctic Circle, the countries and territories whose population experiences 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 as a consequence the midnight sun can be experienced — for more and more days, the further north one goes. At Finland's northernmost point, the sun does not set for 73 days during summer. At Nordkapp in Norway, what is normally denoted as the northernmost point in Europe, there are 76 days (from 14 May to 30 July) of proper midnight sun and an additional few days with partial sun before and after.
The extreme sites are the poles where the sun can be visible for a continous half year.
The opposite phenomenon, polar night, is observed in winter when the sun is sufficiently below the horizon, so that there is insufficient sunlight or no light at all. (A lingering dusk may occur, if the sun is only 12 degrees or less below the horizon.)
Since the Earth's axis is tilted with respect to the ecliptic by approximately 23 degrees 27 minutes (commonly rounded to 23 degrees and a half), 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 when 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 extremeties of the British Isles (and those places on smiliar latitudes) experience a permanent "dusk" or glare in the northern skies at these times.
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[edit] 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 just below the horizon, so that daytime activities, such as reading, are still possible without resorting to 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; they are easily spotted in residential areas by the aluminum foil glued onto their bedroom windows to obtain darkness inside.[citation needed] 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 intensive daylight colored lamps and tanning beds are a popular solution for relief from S.A.D.
[edit] Popular culture
- "Midnight Sun" is a Helloween song from their 1998' album Better Than Raw, written by Michael Weikath.
- The lyric "Where the northern lights are runnin' wild in the land of the midnight sun" referenced in a popular country song titled "North to Alaska" by the 1950s country music singer Johnny Horton.
- "Midnight Sun" is the title of a hidden track on the album Black Sails in the Sunset by AFI
- "Midnight Sun" is the title of a song on the album April Skies by Deine Lakaien
- "Midnight Sunrise" is a song by the Finnish band Turisas.
- "White Night Fantasy" is a song by Finnish band Nightwish. There is also reference in Ever Dream by Nightwish in the lyric "Your beauty cascaded on me, in this white night fantasy".
- The midnight sun is also mentioned together with northern lights in a song about Finland, titled The Land of Ice and Snow, by the Finnish Power Metal band Stratovarius.
- "Midnight Sun" is the name a novel by Ramsey Campbell and also of a novel by RC Duggan.
- 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 is set in Alaska.
- The Midnight Sun is also the title of a Twilight Zone episode.
- Most of the plot of the movie White nights takes place during a midnight sun period in Siberia.
- Midnight Sun is the theme and title of an episode from TV-series taking place in Alaska, Northern Exposure, season 4.
- The Stephen Sondheim musical A Little Night Music takes place during a Swedish white night, and has songs which revolve around this fact.
- "White Nights" is a short story by Dostoevsky.
- "Follow The Midnight Sun" is the title of a song on the album Midnight Sun by Maggie Reilly
- In Led Zeppelin's 1970 album, Led Zeppelin III, the "Midnight Sun" is referenced in the Immigrant Song "We come from the land of the ice and snow where the midnight sun and the hot springs blow "
- On the Comets on Fire album Blue Cathedral there is a song titled "The Antlers of the Midnight Sun"
- In The Outfield's song "Say It Isn't So", the song mentions "walking in the Midnight Sun once again".
- The Electric Light Orchestra hit song Do Ya opens with the singer mentioning "babies dancin' in the midnight sun".
- Warren Zevon's Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner hailed from the "Land of the Midnight Sun".
- Al Di Meola's debut jazz-fusion release on Columbia Records in 1976 was also called "Land of the Midnight Sun."
- Midnight Sun is also the name of Japanese film and drama, see Midnight Sun (film).
- Midnight Sun is also the name of the fourth book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.
- Midnight Sun is the name of a Cirque du Soleil perfomance, that was held in Montreal, Canada in 2004
- 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 Swedish heavy metal band. The band features Jonas Reingold of The Flower Kings.
- Midnattsol (Midnight Sun) is the name of a German/Norwegian heavy metal band fronted by Carmen Elise Espenæs.
- Midnight Sun is the name of a popular MUD game (Multi User Dungeon) http://midnight-sun.ludd.ltu.se:3328/
[edit] See also
- Polar night - The opposite phenomenon experienced in winter: A day without sunrise.
- Land of the Midnight Sun
