Sherry Loy,, age 9, of Peoria, Il for her question:

Does Alaska have six months of winter night?

The winter days get shorter the further north we go, Fairbanks, in central Alaska, has a few winter days that last no longer than four to six hours, Hut only at the north pole and at the south pole do we get six months of winter night and six months of summer sunshine. And Alaska is quite a bit south of the north pole, No place in Alaska has such a long winter night, although there are some places where the sun does not rise for several mid winter days.

Fort Yukon, Alaska, is on the Arctic Circle. At this point there is one day during the year when the sun does not rise at all and one day on which it does not set, At the Arctic Circles the sun does not rise on December 21 and it does not set on June 22. As we move nearer to the north pole, we get more and more winter days on which the sun does not rise.