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The science behind the Northern Lights – and the best places to spot them (according to the experts)

Fairbanks, Alaska, is one of the most reliable locations for Northern Lights hunters - Piriya
Fairbanks, Alaska, is one of the most reliable locations for Northern Lights hunters - Piriya

“In Yup’ik culture we believe that the Aurora Borealis is where our ancestors go and so when the lights appear they dance for us,” says Piiyuuk Olivia Shields. 

I met Piiyuuk, 23, a native Alaskan, during my visit there last week. Piiyuuk doesn’t call them the Northern Lights because in her home village of Toksook Bay, in the far west of the state, they aren’t “northern” but directly overhead. 

“People say you can’t hear them, but when I’m home, I can… it’s a kind of grating sound, grrr. We dance for them too, but we have a rule that you can’t whistle because then they’ll take you away to the spirit world before it’s your time to go.”

The science behind the aurora is just as fascinating as the traditional beliefs and might just help you see them on your next winter holiday.

The Lights are storms from the sun

“It’s a phenomenon that occurs about 60 miles above the surface of the earth,” says Neal Brown, a former Nasa scientist based in Fairbanks, Alaska (explorefairbanks.com). “They are storms from the sun that take roughly two days to reach Earth and interact with the Earth’s magnetic fields and its atmosphere. The solar storm is guided in along the magnetic field lines to give an electrical discharge, a bit like a neon sign, with the atoms and molecules in the earth’s atmosphere. So we see greens, blues and reds. We have the most colourful displays in the solar system but there are auroras on Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, too.”

The displays take place above both magnetic poles: in the northern hemisphere they are called the Aurora Borealis, and in the southern hemisphere the Aurora Australis. 

A display above Iceland
A display above Iceland

The display is better in some years than others

“Yes. The sun is a slightly variable star, so every 11 years or so the magnetic activity increases until it reaches maximum, after which it slowly fades out,” confirms Sævar Helgi Bragason, a Reykjavik-based astronomy educator. “A new solar cycle then begins. During maximum, the sun is often pockmarked by dark regions called sunspots. During minimum, hardly any are seen for weeks, even months. When the activity is low, bright and dynamic auroras are seen less frequently because we have fewer powerful coronal mass ejections, which is basically a cloud of solar wind gushing away from the sun.” 

Lights fade during the 11-year cycle

“Solar activity is fading after the maximum of 2014,” says Bragason. “It should reach minimum around 2020 and maximum again around 2026. The best time for auroras is usually two or three years after the maximum, not during it. But there are plenty of other things to see in the night sky, even if the auroras don’t show up.”

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The aurora is affected by the season

“Auroral activity increases around the autumn and spring equinoxes,” says Professor Unto Laine from Aalto University in Finland (aalto.fi/en; visitfinland.com). “Autumn is often cloudy and windy here in Finland and for this reason I would recommend spring viewing.”

Take me there | Six ways to experience the Northern Lights
Take me there | Six ways to experience the Northern Lights

Climate and location improve your chances of seeing the Lights

They are always present, even in summer, but you won’t see them if the sun isn’t at least 10 degrees below the horizon. In Fairbanks, Alaska, for example, they only appear between August 21 and April 21. 

Weather and light pollution also hamper viewing, so always check the weather forecast and try to escape large cities such as Tromsø in Norway.

“On clear nights the probability of seeing the aurora is roughly 50 per cent at latitudes near the Arctic Circle,” says Kirsti Kauristie, head of the Northern Lights department at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi. Stay at least two nights to double your chances.

Weather and light pollution hamper viewing, so always check the forecast
Weather and light pollution hamper viewing, so always check the forecast

“I would recommend a location where there is a stable inland climate during the winter,” says Fred Sigernes from the University Centre in Svalbard. “So in the United States, Fairbanks, Alaska; or in Norway, Alta (visitnorway.com). Alternatively, go on a boat trip where you can hunt for clear skies… the aurora is there all the time, of course, so it’s the viewing conditions that are important.”

“Be patient,” adds astronomy educator Sævar Helgi Bragason from Reykjavik. “Dress warmly and be prepared to be outside from 10pm to midnight, preferably longer. On average the aurora is most commonly seen around 11pm. Be mobile, so you can drive to places where you might get a gap in the cloud cover.”

You could see the Lights in the UK!

Sometimes, yes, on a clear winter night: in March 2016 the Lights were seen as far south as Oxfordshire, although Scotland is a far better bet for sightings, given its latitude. 

A rare sighting from Bamburgh Lighthouse - Credit: GETTY
A rare sighting from Bamburgh Lighthouse Credit: GETTY

And sometimes much further south

It’s much more of a challenge than the Aurora Borealis, because there is less land mass in the southern hemisphere at latitudes where you would generally see the Lights. Nonetheless, the Aurora Australis can be spotted in southern New Zealand, southern Argentina and Chile, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. You can also see them in Antarctica, but tourism there in July and August (the southern winter, so a good time to see them) has yet to boom because it’s -60F outside.

Find out more...

There are several good specialist websites. Try University of Alaska Aurora forecaster: gi.alaska.edu/auroraforecast. Space Weather: spaceweather.com. Auroras Now: aurorasnow.fmi.fi. Met Office: metoffice.gov.uk. Space Weather Prediction Center: swpc.noaa.gov. Norwegian Meteorological Institute: yr.no. Icelandic Met Office: vedur.is.

The Northern Lights over Alaska
The Northern Lights over Alaska