Sun sets in Alaska town for 1st time since May 10

Whale bones form a monument to lost sailors in Utqiagvik, Alaska, overlooking the Arctic Ocean. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)

At 2:16 a.m., the sun finally dipped below the horizon, marking the first official night in 83 days for Utqiaġvik, Alaska, the northernmost town in the United States.

UtqiaÄ¡vik, formerly known as Barrow, lies well north of the Arctic Circle. During the weeks around the summer solstice, the town is bathed in perpetual sunlight as the Earth’s north pole tilts toward the sun.

The last sunset occurred on May 10. Since then, residents have lived in constant daylight, with the sun occasionally dropping down toward the horizon but never fully disappearing.

The first night in months was brief, only lasting for 35 minutes, but much longer nights are ahead.

In this Oct. 10, 2014 photo, a lone figure walks in a sunless late-morning on a street in Barrow, Alaska. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Conversely, in the weeks surrounding the winter solstice when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, people in Utqiaġvik go weeks without seeing sunlight.

The phenomenon known as “polar night” starts on Nov. 19, and the sun will remain absent from the sky for 65 days until it peeks above the horizon once again on Jan. 22, 2025.

While some may think going so long without sunlight would be depressing, former UtqiaÄ¡vik Kirsten Alburg told AccuWeather that it is “such a beautiful time.”

“It ends up being this really beautiful time. You have the northern lights, and it gets cold, but there are so many lights that are out in the town, and it makes everything sparkle,” she said.