The residents of
Utqiaġvik, Alaska (formerly known as
Barrow), saw the final sunset for 2018 last Sunday. The city is currently in complete darkness until the sun rises on January 23, 2019, which is when residents begin to see touches of light over the horizon again
(due to the refraction and scattering of the atmosphere).
Between November 18 and January 23, there is a decreasing amount of twilight each day
(see illustration below) during the first half of the polar night, and on the
winter solstice (around December 21 or December 22), civil twilight in Utqiagvik lasts for a mere 3 hours. By January 27 or 28, the sun rises completely over the horizon.
Utqiaġvik is one of the northernmost public communities in the world and is the northernmost city in the United States. The city has a population was about 4 300 residents, and is roughly 1 300 miles (2 100 km) south of the North Pole. Only 2.6% of the Earth's surface lies as far and farther from the equator as Utqiagvik.
