The Midnight Sun and the Polar Night
The earth rotates around the sun and during the summer the North Pole points towards the sun. As a result, there is a certain period each summer when the sun never sinks below the horizon and the sky is light throughout the whole 24 hours. In the winter the situation is precisely the opposite. The sun never appears above the horizon and all the regions of Norway above the Arctic Circle experience a long polar night. In Tromsø this period of darkness lasts from 27 November to 15 January, while the Midnight Sun can be seen from 20 May to 22 July.

The Northern Lights
The northern lights fill the winter sky with a changing pattern of light and colour. This remarkable natural phenomenon originates from electric particles sent out into space by the sun. These are drawn into the earth's magnetic field where they collide with other small particles in our atmosphere. The electric charges produced by these collisions give rise to the greenish patterns of light which illuminate and dance across the dark sky. The effect is strongest and most beautiful at the earth's two poles.