Why is northern Scandinavia sometimes called the land of the midnight sun?
What happens in the sky in northern Scandinavia during summer?
(and Alaska, Canada, Siberia … )
The north, south axis of rotation of earth is tilted around 23 degrees from straight up from the plane of its yearly rotation around the sun. Therefore at one time of year, around June 22, the North pole is tilted about 23 degrees toward the sun. That time of year you can see the sun at midnight looking over the north pole from any place north of 90 -23 = 67 degrees north of the equator. That is called the summer solstice. The sun at noon that day is over the tropic of Cancer, which is a latitude about 23 degrees north of the equator. Of course this goes on until the sun dips back toward the equator as the summer wears on and as winter comes you pay it back with short days
Northern Scandinavia is sometimes called the land of the midnight sun because during the summer months, the sun is visible for 24 hours a day, which means that it never fully sets below the horizon. This phenomenon occurs because of the region's proximity to the Arctic Circle, which is an imaginary line circling the Earth near the North Pole.
To understand why this happens, we need to delve into the Earth's axial tilt and its revolution around the sun. The Earth's axis is tilted at an angle of about 23.5 degrees relative to its orbit around the sun. This tilt causes the amount of daylight hours to vary throughout the year as different parts of the Earth receive varying amounts of sunlight.
During the summer solstice, which typically occurs around June 21st in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted towards the Sun, resulting in the longest day of the year. As you move closer to the Arctic Circle, the number of daylight hours increases, and beyond the Arctic Circle, the sun remains visible continuously for 24 hours a day. This phenomenon is what gives northern Scandinavia the nickname "land of the midnight sun."
So, in short, the region is called the land of the midnight sun because during the summer months, the sun is visible for the entire day and night due to the Earth's axial tilt and its position above the Arctic Circle.