Although this long night may sound boring to you, if you like to watch stars it is excellent. If you are a scientist who likes to study starlight, winter in the South Pole is a dream come true. On our planet, the seasons result from the 23 degree tilt of the earth's axis as we move around the sun. Because of this tilt, the Northern pole of the earth is inclined toward the sun between March and September. The Southern pole of the planet is tilted toward the sun between September and March.
Many people think that the Earth is closer to the sun during summer and farther away during winter.
Earth's orbit is almost perfectly circular. The sun is a little off center so that the earth is 3 million miles closer to the sun in January than in July. That may sound like a lot, but in the cosmic scheme of things 3 million miles is tiny. This tiny distance change affects the temperatures during these seasons, but not by much. The tilt of earth's axis is much more important.