Six months of day
The Sun at the poles.
At the very top of the world
At the North Pole, the Sun does not rise and set every day as it does here.
How often do you think the Sun rises at the North Pole?
What this lesson covers
The idea
At the North Pole the Sun rises on the 21 March equinox and sets on 22 September, and the South Pole shows the opposite; so polar regions get six months of continuous sunshine and then six months of darkness.
At the very top of the world
At the North Pole, the Sun does not rise and set every day as it does here.
How often do you think the Sun rises at the North Pole?
- Every 24 hours
- Only once in a year
- Never, it is always dark
A year at the poles
Slide through the year, or tap a date. The pictures show the sky at each pole.
Half a year of sunshine
The Sun rises at the North Pole on 21 March and stays in the sky until 22 September. The South Pole is the opposite.
At the North Pole the Sun rises on the 21 March equinox and sets on 22 September, and the South Pole shows the opposite; so polar regions get six months of continuous sunshine and then six months of darkness.
Notes
At the North Pole the Sun rises on the 21 March equinox and sets on 22 September, and the South Pole shows the opposite; so polar regions get six months of continuous sunshine and then six months of darkness.
Check yourself
At the North Pole the Sun rises on …
When the Sun sets at the North Pole on 22 September, at the South Pole the Sun …
For how many months in a row does a pole get continuous sunshine?
Answer: 6 months
Six months, then six months of darkness.
The polar regions get …
- 21 March — correct. Yes! It is the equinox.
- 21 June. By 21 June the Sun is already up in the sky at the North Pole.
- 22 September. That is when the Sun sets at the North Pole.
- also sets. The South Pole behaves the opposite way.
- rises — correct. Yes! The South Pole has the opposite behaviour.
- stays exactly as before. It was dark at the South Pole before, and now the Sun rises.
- six months of sunshine, then six months of darkness — correct. Yes! That is how the year goes at the poles.
- darkness for the whole year. They get six months of sunshine too.
- sunshine every day for 12 hours. That happens near the equator. The poles get long spells of day and night.