The Earth is tilted approximately 23.5 degrees on its axis. This tilt helps keep the Earth in the same direction for 365 days while completing its orbital journey around the Sun. In the Northern Hemisphere, during the summer, the Earth gets to face the Sun directly and it moves pretty slowly in the summer because of the greater distance between the Sun and the Earth. Therefore in Alaska, the sun rises in mid- May and glares at Earth for the longest period of time, about 80 days, with no sunset in between.