Today, Monday, November 18, the northernmost point of the U.S. sees its last official sunrise until January 23. That place is Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow, Alaska.
Although it will not stay completely dark for 24 hours out of the day, Barrow will not have a true sunrise until the end of January. This means that light will still illuminate this part of the world for a few hours out of the day but that the sun will not rise above the horizon.
This happens because the earth rotates around the sun at a 23.5° angle, meaning that as we get closer to the winter solstice, the sun’s rays move closer toward the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere and further away from the Arctic Circle. For the next two months, the Arctic Circle will be tilted away from the sun, receiving minimal sunlight and leaving places like Barrow, Alaska without a sunrise.
