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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, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland, and extremities of Russia such as the Kola peninsula, Novaya Zemlya and the cities of Murmansk, Norilsk and Vorkuta. A quarter of Finland's territory lies above 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 northermost 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 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 26 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.
White night
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 folium glued onto their bedroom windows to obtain darkness inside. 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. Popular culture "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. 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. | ||||||||||
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