Our Northern Lights Blog

What’s it like living under the Northern Lights?

I’m Matt Robinson and I am very lucky to have lived under the Northern Lights for many years. I’m an astronomer and astro-photographer who has spent many years within the Arctic Circle working for the Aurora Zone.  
 
But what is it like?  
How does it feel to walk outside your door and the Northern Lights are displaying right above you?  
Let me tell you…

A Spring calendar points to Autumn 2022 being highly rewarding for Aurora Hunters 

Regular readers of our blogs will know that the weeks around the March and September Equinoxes can be a tremendously fulfilling times to go in search of the Northern Lights. We have been seeking the Aurora for well over a decade and in terms of Solar activity, March and April 2022 were unprecedented. The Sun is in the upwards stages of its activity cycle and as that activity increases, there is no reason to suggest that September and October won’t be as good, if not better, than March and April!

We receive regular emails from a website called Space Weather* updating us on Solar and Auroral events. Having recommended March for so long, we were delighted to read a series of messages alerting us to the fact that the Spring Equinox was indeed living up to our lofty expectations.

APRIL FOOLS!!! 

Unfortunately, we are yet to come across Aurora Huskies that can sense when the Northern Lights will appear! However, if we ever do come across them, then you will be the first to know.

Although these huskies might not be real, we are always looking for ways to develop our holidays – here are a few of our favourite things you can do on an Aurora Zone holiday.

(Spoiler Alert – No made-up animals included)

March is the best time to see the Northern Lights

I have lost count of the number of times I have been asked when the best time is to see the Northern Lights but, my answer is always the same: March.

However, despite numerous blogs, interviews, and social media output, frustratingly, I have never been able to convince our clientele about the merits of the year’s third month. I honestly do not understand why but, the best month for hunting the Northern Lights remains one of our quietest aurora chasing months.

It is baffling.

The scientific evidence is compelling and includes painstaking research from NASA proving that geomagnetic activity is historically at its highest in the weeks around the spring equinox (20 March 2022). What does geomagnetic activity make? That’s right, the Aurora Borealis.

“It’s been absolutely relentless and, it’s not just the frequency but also the intensity. I grew up and lived here all my life and have never experienced such an amazing Aurora season.” - Jouko Lappalainen

It’s safe to say that this Aurora hunting season has been the best in living memory. The Aurora has appeared in the Arctic night sky far, far more often than anybody (even NASA sponsored scientists!) believed possible. What’s more, many of these displays have been spectacular with myriad coloured lights blazing trails across the heavens and leaving even seasoned Aurora Guides spellbound and awestruck.

(Image: Muotka, Credit: @ Bolephotography)

You can ask just about any professional Aurora guide about their favourite time of year for chasing the Northern Lights and we are prepared to bet that they’ll reply with either March or Autumn.

We’ve written elsewhere about the allures of Autumn up there in the Auroral Zone so, here are our Top Ten Reasons for Aurora Hunting in March. Some are based in science; some are for aesthetic reasons and others are just plain common sense.

Whichever reason you pick, we think you will be making a wise decision to travel in March. There’s always a clamour here in The Aurora Zone office when trips become available, and that clamour is particularly loud when March is on offer. It is a wonderful time to visit the Arctic and chase down those heavenly lights.

The Aurora Borealis comes in many shapes, sizes, and colours. It can appear as a totally unremarkable static green/grey smudge, or it can fill the whole sky with curtains of shimmering multi-coloured light.

In a decade of Aurora hunting, we have seen them all and every display leaves an impression. Here are 10 of our best Aurora Moments from the last decade.

The Aurora Borealis - or Northern Lights as they are more commonly known - regularly tops wish lists and much has been written on the topic of Mother Nature’s greatest spectacle. As the UK’s only dedicated Northern Lights hunting holiday company, we spend a lot of time fully researching all things Auroral and not everything we read is always completely accurate. On that basis, here are a few things that we have learned in over a decade of Aurora hunting:

1) Cloud Cover is the Aurora Hunter’s Worst Enemy

Ask any professional Aurora guide or photographer, however, and they will tell you that the number one enemy of Northern Lights hunting is blanket cloud cover. 

When fully qualified and dauntingly clever people such as Jyrki Manninen, Deputy Director of the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory in Finnish Lapland comment on the prospects for the new Aurora season, our ears prick up and we listen.

An article in the Finnish press on 31 August 2021 asked Manninen for his expert opinion on one of, if not the most, asked questions regarding the Aurora Borealis. 

When is the best time to see the Northern Lights?