Our planet has a unique beauty and a balance of life that has been going on for many years. The movement of the Sun and its surroundings, its distance from the Sun at the key point and many other factors make it livable for us. But all this brings with it many question marks about our planet.
Although these reach very confusing dimensions, in this content, we will touch on a subject that may seem complicated at first but is actually quite simple, the length of day and night at the poles. Without further ado, let’s get started.
Our Earth does not stand upright in the orbit of the Sun:
Instead, we’re tilted at a 23-degree angle to orbit. This causes places on our planet to look at the Sun in different ways. For example, the equatorial region gets warmer because it receives sunlight before and continuously from other places.
However, due to the tilt of the axis we mentioned, the poles remain slightly tilted compared to the Sun and they see less of the Sun’s face. Likewise, due to this inclination, the night and day levels are considerably longer.
The weather is pleasant for us. But because of its axial tilt, when one pole faces the Sun, the other is facing the dark side:
We see the Sun at certain times and then it sets. Because our country moves to the region that does not receive light after a certain hour due to the rotation of the Earth, and this repeats every 24 hours.
But the poles face either towards the Sun for a long part of the year or into the darkness:
By ‘a long time’ here we mean about six months. In this context, on September 23 and March 21, the sun’s rays come perpendicular to the equator, and with this, a six-month day-night period begins for both poles.
On September 23, the sun’s rays begin to come perpendicular to the Southern Hemisphere region. For this reason, the duration of the day is longer here. In the Northern Hemisphere, the opposite happens and the days begin to shorten. In this context, as we greet autumn on September 23, a night period that will last for 6 months begins in the North Pole. At the same time, the opposite happens at the South Pole, with 6 months of daylight.
On March 21, we will see the opposite. Additionally, on both dates, the Sun’s rays reach both poles.
This time we enter spring. In the Northern Hemisphere, the days are getting longer, so the North Pole receives more sunlight. In this context, while the 6-month daylight period is now seen at the North Pole, the South Pole has passed into the 6-month night period.
Finally, let us state that in 5 months of this 6-month period (according to the pole), twilight is observed at both poles, and in 1 month, at both poles.
Sources: 1, 2, 3
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