- published: 14 Dec 2015
- views: 1225708
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2012, it is the parallel of latitude that runs 66° 33′ 44″ (or 66.5622°) north of the Equator.
The region north of this circle is known as the Arctic, and the zone just to the south is called the Northern Temperate Zone. The equivalent polar circle in the Southern Hemisphere is called the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circle marks the southern extremity of the polar day (24-hour sunlit day, often referred to as the "midnight sun") and polar night (24-hour sunless night). North of the Arctic Circle, the sun is above the horizon for 24 continuous hours at least once per year and below the horizon for 24 continuous hours at least once per year. On the Arctic Circle those events occur, in principle, exactly once per year, at the June and December solstices, respectively. In fact, because of atmospheric refraction and because the sun appears as a disk and not a point, part of the midnight sun may be seen on the night of the northern summer solstice up to about 50′ (90 km (56 mi)) south of the Arctic Circle; similarly, on the day of the northern winter solstice, part of the sun may be seen up to about 50′ north of the Arctic Circle. That is true at sea level; those limits increase with elevation above sea level although in mountainous regions, there is often no direct view of the true horizon.
Sailing to the unfriendly regions of the North.
Some whales were following us, making sounds of warning.
The curious giants were playing with each other,
Spying on the expedition's ships.
The Arctic Circle closed its arms around our fate.
We are sealed on this central ocean.
We have settled on the frozen zone of the tundra.
Blinding days, snowing with out end.
The winter months are furiously approaching.
The pole will turn his white back to the sun.
The Arctic Circle closed its arms around our fate.