What Causes ‘The Midnight Sun’ in Some Places?

The Midnight Sun happens when the sun stays up all night long in some places because of how Earth spins and tilts.

Imagine you're playing with a globe, that's like Earth, and you shine a flashlight on it, just like the sun. Now, if Earth is tilted at an angle, some parts get to stay in the sunlight longer than others. In summer, when it’s light outside for a really long time, that’s kind of what happens near the top of the globe.

Earth spins around once every day, like a top, this is called rotation. But Earth also tilts as it goes around the sun, this is called revolution. When one part of Earth is tilted toward the sun, that part gets more sunlight for longer, even during what would normally be nighttime.

In places near the North Pole, like Norway or Alaska, when summer comes, the sun doesn’t set at all, it just keeps going around and around in the sky! So people there can play outside even when it’s midnight. It’s like having a really long day that never ends.