The city that “trapped” the sun… Watch the “last sunset” and the moment of sunrise, a day that lasts 84 days | Miscellaneous

In a scene approaching fantasy, the city of Utqiagvik in the state of Alaska, in the far north of America, is preparing for 84 continuous days of daylight, after the sun rose there on Sunday and will not set until the second of next August.

Time-lapse snapshots published by the Meteorological Department showed the moment of the “final sunset” of this remarkable annual event, as the sun touched the horizon at 1:48 am local time, before returning to rise again at 2:57 am, at the beginning of a period in which this part of the world is known as the “midnight sun” phenomenon.

The sun never sets… 84 days above the horizon

The phenomenon of the midnight sun or “polar day” occurs in areas near the North Pole, where the sun’s disk remains above the horizon for 24 continuous hours and for a period of weeks or months depending on latitude.

In Utqiagvik, this means that residents will not witness a real sunset for about 84 days, a period documented by American media by saying that the city “said goodbye to the last sunset” and is now receiving a summer without night until early August.

How do people live when the night disappears?

Despite the attraction of the scene for tourists and photography enthusiasts, living in permanent daytime is not easy for residents, as many are forced to use blackout curtains and light-blocking glasses to maintain regular hours of sleep, while midnight strolls in the sun turn into a regular part of daily life.

Meteorologists say that this phenomenon is the summer side of an opposite phenomenon experienced by the residents of Utqiagvik in the winter, as the city enters into a “polar night” that lasts for weeks in which the sun does not shine at all, in a sharp annual cycle between light and darkness at the edge of the Earth.

The short video – which combines in a few seconds the scene of sunset and the rapid return of the sun – was widely spread on digital platforms, as a reminder of rare images that most of the world’s population does not see, as the sun remains a regular guest in most cities between sunrise and sunset, with… Ask a question: How does a person’s sense of time change when the rhythm of light and dark is turned upside down?