Fact Check

Sunset at the North Pole

Does a photograph show sunset at the North Pole?

Published March 16, 2006

Claim:

Claim:   Photograph shows the North Pole at sunset.


Status:   False.

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, 2005]




This is the sunset at the North Pole with the moon at its closest point. And, you also see the sun below the moon. An amazing photo and not one easily duplicated. You may want to save this and pass on to others.



Click to enlarge



Origins:   Although the above-displayed image has been circulating as a "photograph" of "sunset at the North Pole," it is a purely digital creation. As far as we know, it is a work titled "Hideaway," produced by a 22-year-old German astrophysics student named Inga Nielsen using TerragenTM scenery rendering software.

Last updated:   3 July 2006


David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.