How does the amount of sunlight change during the year at the North Pole?
A. The darkest time of year at the North Pole is the Winter Solstice (approximately December 21). There has been no sunlight or even twilight since early October! The darkness lasts until the beginning of the Spring Equinox (approximately March 21), and the sun rises higher in the sky with each advancing day, reaching a maximum height at the Summer Solstice (approximately June 21). In summertime, the sun is always above the horizon at the North Pole, circling the Pole once every day. It is highest in the sky at the Summer Solstice (this is the reason that the Arctic is called the land of the midnight sun), after which it moves closer to the horizon, until it sinks below the horizon, at the Fall Equinox (approximately September 21). At this time the sun sinks below the horizon, and the North Pole is in twilight until early October, after which it is in full darkness for the Winter.
