Northern Lights

I think the northern lights (aurora borealis) deserve a special category. For the first time, I saw the aurora by accident. Respectively, my camera saw it by accident. We were camping in Canada not far from Banff National Park when I wanted to take a picture of a night river with mountains when I saw a strange green color above the horizon in the resulting photo. It was there! That summer, we became more interested in this natural phenomenon and we managed to see it above the horizon again, this time by the naked eye, not only green but also purple. But it was still quite far away.

In New Zealand, we tried to catch the southern aurora borealis, but unfortunately, we did not succeed. But when we arrived in Iceland, and at the end of the summer we caught the forecast for a solar storm, we did not wait for anything and went looking for a place without clouds to see it. And that was a game-changer. At that time, we thought that if the forecast says that the aurora will start at 11 pm, it will also start. And it started! 😀 According to the plan, at 11 o’clock sharp. What we have seen is difficult to describe. It was a really strong geomagnetic storm playing with all colors, very dynamic and playful, everywhere we looked. We held our breath. We later found out that we were really lucky because the aurora comes and goes whenever wants and is very unpredictable. However, we caught this dance show several more times during the winter season despite the solar minimum period.

For the next winter season, we have already moved to Norway beyond the Arctic Circle, and this turned out to be another level of aurora borealis. It is seen here more often and quite often directly above the heads. The aurora spun several times above us and basically fell directly on us. That feeling is overwhelming.

One would say that seeing it so many times must get bored, but I am still like a small child when I see it and jump with joy over that beauty. When the conditions are right, I always go out and always try to catch it. All those nights staying up are worth it when it shows up!

Enjoy a small gallery with this mysterious beauty of the Northern Lights!