Sunrise at the South Pole
Sunrise at the South Pole is different. Usually a welcome sight , it follows months of darkness -- and begins months of sunshine. At Earth's poles , it can take weeks for the Sun to rise, in contrast with hours at any mid- latitude location. Sunrise at a pole is caused by the tilt of the Earth as it orbits the Sun , not by the rotation of the Earth . Although at a pole, an airless Earth would first see first Sun at an equinox , the lensing effect of the Earth's atmosphere and the size of the solar disk causes the top of the Sun to appear about two-weeks early. Pictured two weeks ago, the Sun peeks above the horizon of a vast frozen landscape at Earth's South Pole. The true South Pole is just a few meters to the left of the communications tower. This polar sunrise capture was particularly photogenic as the Sun appeared capped by a green flash .