NORTHERN LIGHTS
What is the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis? Are beautiful as in the pictures? I know that all of them are photoshoped. Is it true?
The Northern & Southern Lights, but the scientific name is Polar Lights, are the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth’s atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun’s atmosphere. Variations in colour are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. You’ll learn more about this on your Aurora Discover and/or during our Photography Masterclass.
Which is it the best time to see the Northern Lights?
The Aurora Borealis season usually is between mid-September and mid-April each year, but sometimes when the solar activity is very high, you might start to see them already in mid-august. This is because mostly need three main factors: 1. darkness, 2. clear sky and 3. good solar activity. We need these factors at the same time, in that very place. Whenever we might lack one of them, we will not be able to spot anything in the sky.
There is some data-records suggest to us that there is high chance to spot the Green Lady during Autumn and Spring, however, we frequently see Northern Lights in Tromsø region throughout the season. The factor that affects the probability of seeing Northern Lights is finding ample gaps in the clouds. Even with high predictions of activity, if there is increased cloud coverage, it is not as likely to see the Nothern Lights.
The solar cycles go up and down all the time, right now we are in the beginning of an upwards cycle with “more activity” however even on a year with less activity we were seeing Auroras almost every night and, again, this year (2020/2021) we have seen beautiful, strong northern lights (at least) ones a week. When we don’t see any Aurora, it is mostly due to heavy cloud coverage. Due to where Tromsø is located we have the most sightings of Aurora world-wide, even on ‘low’ years we still see them very frequently, that’s because Tromsø is located right below the Aurora Oval. This means that, no matter what, we are always able to spot some activity throughout the season according with the main three factors wrote above.
However there isn't a better month then other for the Northern Lights. Our suggestion for you, is to plan your trip to Tromsø for seeing the Northern Lights, when you can affort the travel. Most tour operators will say: “go on February and/or March”. This is true, but is more true to understand that every day from mid-september to late-march is suitable for the Northern Lights. Our professional guides and photographers are the most experts in the regions and, every time they will do their best to show you the reason why you will be here: the Northern Lights.
However our favourite months for the Northern Lights are September and March for two main reasons:
statistically, thanks also to the equinox, the Solar Activity is higher in this two months then in the rest of the season. But neverthenless, we very often spot some gorgeus aurora display throughout the season;
photography talking, in September the sunset colors are, relatevelly, late. Whenever the weather will be good on the coast, on the weat we might be able to enjoying the last part of the sunset colors and, on the east, the darkness will be already there, both linked by the magic Northern Lights all over the sky.
Unfortunatelly is just a question of luck.
Which is the best time to come?
The key word is, as always, “depends”. The best moment to come it’s up to you because If you are wishing to make your Arctic holiday in Tromsø at his best and are looking to combine your Northern Lights hunt with other winter activities, we’d suggest coming on the right moment for your fits. Between November and late January (usually) each year you can enjoy the majesty marine mammals in the arctic ocean in Skjervøy and join to the whale saferi on board of the hybrid boat. If you are looking, instead, for something more relaxing, why don’t you go with on a sleddge pulled by a reindeer in a Sami Camp.
No matter which holyday you wanna have: rember to plan your activity as soon as possibile if you wanna get the best tour possibile.
Why Tromsø is the best place to see the Northern Lights?
Tromsø is the only city in the world to be in the heart of the Aurora Oval, along the gulf stream, have a network of incredibles surrounding microclimates and last but not the least, Tromsø is surrounded by incredible landscpes: fjords, high mountains, beautiful altopiano. For these reasons, no other city at this latidudes are like Tromsø, if you goal is to see the Northern Lights.
Tromsø is in the heart of the Aurora Oval. The Aurora Oval is an oval shaped belt that runs around the earth at both North and South Poles. The belt is the areas that can see activity depending on the KP index. As Tromsø remains in the heart of the belt, it is possible to see the Northern Lights even at a KP 1 or less.
Tromsø is 70 degrees north. This means that Tromsø is situated in the Aurora sweet spot; whenever the nights will be dark enough and the solar activity will be high enough, towards north and crossing the sky from East to West, The Northern Lights will be visible even at KP 1. It’s very importanto to remember that the Northern Lights arch is long 2000km and this means that from Finland to Norway, there isn’t a better place then other. You just need to be lucky.
Regarding the kp, don’t worry too much about this. If you are using an App on your phone as tool to predict the Aurora Borealis, just weast it: most of the time are uncorrect and they are taking care only about the KP index. If there is any solar activity in the Northern hemisphere then we would see it here, assuming there are gaps in the clouds, and it is dark. This is because Tromsø is located at 70 degrees north.
Tromsø is in a region with an exceptional number of microclimates. Each valley, fjord, mountain and plateau can have significantly different conditions, this means that even on very cloudy evenings it is possible to clear skies within a 1 - 3 hrs drive away. The environmental conditions here are very dynamic, conditions can change so fast that it is impossible to predict the cloud coverage pattern over 24hrs in advance.
Tromsø is the best place to come on vacation is because Tromsø is in the gulf stream. This island surrounded by ocean water that has travelled across the Atlantic and up the Norwegian coast. This beautiful ‘warm’ water is straight from the Caribbean, keeping Tromsø surprisingly warm even throughout winter. Expect that in the heart of winter that temperatures in the city will likely go between -3°C and +2°C with exceptionally cold days reaching –10°C or colder.
As tour companies often go inland on evening Aurora Discover, most have age restrictions in order to protect those vulnerable to such temperatures and too small to regulate their body temperatures properly.
Are you looking for some more pictures about the Northern Lights?
Then go on our Instagram page if you wanna see some nice photo and get the most variable opinion on how differents the Northern Lights might be night by night.
Otherwise just write us and e-mail or contact us trough our contact form.
