Want to tick chasing the northern lights off your wishlist? (2023)

FAQs

How do you chase the Northern Lights? ›

The early fall and early spring are statistically related to periods of more solar activity, so the months of September and March are usually the best to enjoy a big display of Northern Lights. September is one of the best months to see the Northern Lights.

Find a Safe Spot. Chasing the Aurora means getting away from city lights and finding a spot with a nice, wide-open view of the midnight canvass above.

Many of the stories surrounding the Northern Lights in North American communities arose from the belief that they were the souls of departed ancestors. It was even believed that the lights might be the spirits of the animals they hunted.

February 2023 is the final month of the winter and offers great chance at capturing the northern lights. March 2023 is likely to be the BEST month of the season as with history has shown, it has the easiest weather. Anybody wanting to maximize their chances at seeing the lights, March is their go-to month.

Viewing the northern lights

Generally, the aurora appears a few hours after sunset, when the sky is clear, and tends to become more intense around midnight.

The longer you can stay, the better your chances. As a guideline, many resorts geared towards seeing the Northern Lights offer packages for four to five days.

Fairbanks is the unofficial capital of northern lights spotting in the US. Located in the Interior region of the state, it has the ideal conditions for chasing the phenomenon. You've got the perfect latitude, excellent dark skies, and magnificent natural landscapes.

The northern lights is also mentioned in the Bible, in the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament. In the 2,600 years old description it says:” I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north–an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light.”

The aurora is rich with spiritual traditions, with most involving the spirits of the departed. The Inuit call the aurora aksarnirq and believe that souls of the dead dance in the aurora.

Is seeing aurora rare? ›

Fortunately, they occur frequently. "The northern lights are happening 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," said photographer Chad Blakely, owner of the northern lights tour company Lights Over Lapland (opens in new tab).

The Sami people are indigenous to the Nordic countries believe that the Aurora carried the sounds of their dead ancestors and must be treated with respect. It's taboo to whistle or sing in their presence otherwise you risk being whisked away by the lights, never to be seen again.

The Northern Lights occur so high up in the atmosphere that they don't pose any threat to people watching them from the ground. The aurora itself is not harmful to humans but the electrically charged particles produced could have some potentially negative effects to infrastructure and technology.

Enormous amounts of electrical energy are produced during an aurora when millions of amperes of electric currents pass through the atmosphere and generate nearly 900 billion watts of energy - mostly in heat but about a few percent in light. Picture Gallary Many people enjoy the challenge of photographing the aurora.

The Northern Lights are actually active all year round. But because they are only typically visible in the aurora zone between 65° and 72° North, they are not visible from April through August when the aurora zone experiences nearly 24 hours of daylight.

The Carrington Event was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, peaking from 1 to 2 September 1859 during solar cycle 10. It created strong auroral displays that were reported globally and caused sparking and even fires in multiple telegraph stations.

There is no official season since the northern lights are almost always present, day and night. Caused by charged particles from the sun hitting atoms in Earth's atmosphere and releasing photons, it's a process that happens constantly.

Nevertheless, the optimum time seems to be around 9.30pm to 1am and that is when we concentrate most of our searches. As ever with Mother Nature, these things are impossible to predict but as we head into solar maximum, we expect the lights to appear earlier than usual and much more often.

Yes. If the Northern Lights are strong enough you can see them with your naked eye. However, most photographs of the Northern Lights are taken with special camera setups, and at least a long shutter speed.

To observers at far-northern latitudes, the Lights are a frequent occurrence, but many who live in more temperate climates have never seen them, even though they are occasionally seen as far south as 35 degrees North latitude.

Can you see the northern lights from Niagara? ›

Well, you'll be happy to know that some of the best places to see the northern lights in Ontario aren't too far away from major cities such as Toronto and Ottawa. If you're looking to see the northern lights in Toronto or Niagara you'll need only drive a few hours north to get to some incredible places.

The winter season in the Arctic lasts from late September to late March/ early April. During this time, the Arctic sky is dark enough for the Northern Lights to be visible in the right conditions. The aurora is at its most active around the equinoxes in March and September.

So if the weather and aurora forecast are good, you might not need to take a tour to see the northern lights. But it's still a very good idea to sign up for a northern lights tour. Look for a northern lights tour where the guides will do everything in their ability to help you get a glimpse of the aurora.

While the typical auroras are seen in the Arctic region, according to space.com geomagnetic storms, caused by coronal mass ejections (CME), can ramp up the northern lights and make them visible over much wider areas. Even so, Upstate New York can be quite cloudy, making the aurora borealis hard to see.

Revelation 4:5: And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

In the Bible, (Matthew XVI: 2-3,) Jesus said, “When in evening, ye say, it will be fair weather: For the sky is red. And in the morning, it will be foul weather today; for the sky is red and lowering.”

Matthew 5:14-16

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

Don't whistle at the Northern Lights

The biggest faux pas you can commit while viewing the Northern Lights is to wave, sing or whistle at them. Alerted to your presence, the spirits of the lights will come down and take you away.

Stories about the auroras range from the Roman belief the lights were the goddess of dawn to medieval times when they were thought to be a harbinger of famine, to a number of Native American beliefs, including the lights being omens of war or dancing spirits or great hunters and fishermen.

The aurora borealis commonly known as the northern lights, cannot be touched from earth. These are particles that interact with gases in our atmosphere resulting in a beautiful display of light in the sky. Oxygen gives off green and red light and nitrogen glows blue and purple.

Is pink aurora rare? ›

"No idea why auroras went orange, as I haven't seen that before." For the second time in less than two months, Norwegian skywatchers were stunned by extremely rare pink auroras glimmering above the frozen landscape, which at moments turned into even rarer shades of orange. The glowing displays were photographed on Dec.

On occasion the aurora gets a deep red color. This comes from higher altitudes, around 120-180 miles (200-300 km). It is again the oxygen atom that is responsible for this color.

The aurora is emitted between 90 and 150 km in altitude (i.e. mostly above the 'official' boundary of space, 100 km), so ungloving your hand inside an aurora would likely be fatal (unless a fellow astronaut immediately reattaches your glove and repressurizes your suit).

Reds appear in the Aurora when solar particles react with Oxygen at higher altitudes, generally above 150 miles. At this height the Oxygen is less concentrated and is “excited” at a higher frequency or wavelength than the denser Oxygen lower down making reds visible.

On occasion the aurora gets a deep red color. This comes from higher altitudes, around 120-180 miles (200-300 km). It is again the oxygen atom that is responsible for this color.

While Northern Lights was bred to be grown indoors, cannabis growers favor this low odor strain which produces flowers quickly. After the flower is cured, the buds of the Northern Lights strain smell subtly of pine and citrus.

Substorms from the Aurora Borealis create an electrical current in the atmosphere that is echoed at ground level. Localised changes in the Earth's magnetic field can disrupt power lines, electronic and communications systems and technologies such as GPS.

For the human eye, colors of the Northern lights are much weaker. One reason is the difference between the camera and our eyes. Our night vision is limited and not as colorful, the camera doesn't have the same limitations. Therefore the colors are mostly stronger in the photos, compared to how we see them.

The Northern Lights are one of the most awe-inspiring natural phenomena in the world. Documented throughout time in movies, books and art, they symbolise the magical mysticism of the far Northern Hemisphere.

The aurora borealis – otherwise known as the northern lights – is a vivid demonstration of the Earth's magnetic field interacting with charged particles from the sun. It's also beautiful, and worth braving a cold night out when visiting the high northern (or southern) latitudes.

Why are Northern Lights green? ›

The most common colour seen in the Northern Lights is green. When the solar wind hits millions of oxygen atoms in the Earth's atmosphere at the same time, it excites the oxygen atoms for a time and then they decay back to their original state, when they emit the green hue we can see from the ground.

Don't whistle at the Northern Lights

The biggest faux pas you can commit while viewing the Northern Lights is to wave, sing or whistle at them. Alerted to your presence, the spirits of the lights will come down and take you away.

The Northern Lights occur so high up in the atmosphere that they don't pose any threat to people watching them from the ground. The aurora itself is not harmful to humans but the electrically charged particles produced could have some potentially negative effects to infrastructure and technology.

Ideally, the lights will be best viewed away from any light pollution, in remote areas, facing the northern horizon - north facing coasts produce some of the best viewing locations. The northern lights are most active during the Equinox and Solstice in March/April and September/October.

Set your phone to manual mode

Alter the exposure near 10 seconds and ISO to 800 to start with and freely adjust it if the aurora's intensity is not as bright as you want it to. Taking Northern Lights is very challenging as the aurora is always moving and sometimes it moves fast!

The Northern Lights occur so high up in the atmosphere that they don't pose any threat to people watching them from the ground. The aurora itself is not harmful to humans but the electrically charged particles produced could have some potentially negative effects to infrastructure and technology.

Secondly, the aurora are essentially photon emissions from nitrogen and oxygen molecules, so you can't really touch it (as much as you can 'touch' a sunbeam). Even the gas that emits the photons is extremely tenuous.

There are many myths and beliefs that are based on the cultural importance of the Northern Lights, including one being that the Northern Lights are the dead dancing up a storm in the beautiful night sky. Seeing the Northern Lights could give you more insight and understanding into ancient tradition.

As a rule of thumb, if the aurora you see is bright and active, try a shutter speed between 5 and 10 seconds. Between 12 and 20 seconds is a good place to start for a slow-moving aurora, and for a faint aurora, you could take the shutter speed up to 20 or 25 seconds.

Fortunately, they occur frequently. "The northern lights are happening 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," said photographer Chad Blakely, owner of the northern lights tour company Lights Over Lapland (opens in new tab).

What time is best to see the northern lights tonight? ›

Nevertheless, the optimum time seems to be around 9.30pm to 1am and that is when we concentrate most of our searches. As ever with Mother Nature, these things are impossible to predict but as we head into solar maximum, we expect the lights to appear earlier than usual and much more often.

Fairbanks, Utqiagvik, and Coldfoot are among the best places to visit for a chance to see the northern lights. Visitors can even opt for a guided tour for expert viewing advice. Head to an inland location during March for your best chances of seeing the phenomenon in the Last Frontier.

There is no official season since the northern lights are almost always present, day and night. Caused by charged particles from the sun hitting atoms in Earth's atmosphere and releasing photons, it's a process that happens constantly.

Taking photos

Turn on Stars Mode (a green icon means it's turned on). You're now ready to take a photo – just tap the shutter and wait about 15 seconds. If the lights are faint, try turning on Light Boost too, it can really help bring out them out. The “sun icon” button turns Light Boost on.

Luckily, your iPhone can make very good Northern Lights shots even if you're holding one for the first time. Days are getting shorter, and nights longer in the Northern hemisphere.