How To Hunt Northern Lights….!

The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights as they are more commonly called, truly is one of the greatest natural phenomena on Earth and we absolutely think seeing them should be on every traveler’s bucket list. Here we are sharing how to chase Northern Lights and when is the best time to start your journey!

Why it is called Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights?

It was named Aurora Borealis by Galileo as far back as 1619 after Aurora – the Roman goddess of dawn, and Boreas – the Greek name for the north wind.

Aurora (Latin: [au̯ˈroːra]) is the Latin word for dawn, and the goddess of dawn in Roman mythology and Latin poetry. Like Greek Eos and Rigvedic Ushas (and possibly Germanic Ostara), Aurora continues the name of an earlier Indo-Europeandawn goddess,

The fact of the matter is that there is no easy answer to the question “Where is the best place to see Northern Lights?” That question isn’t as black and white as it may appear. Northern Lights most typically occur in the aurora zone between 65° and 72° North; however, big geomagnetic storms can push that zone lower. This is what happens when the Northern Lights are seen in places like Scotland or Michigan.

A lot of conditions all have to line up perfectly for Northern Lights to occur and be seen. When Northern Lights appear, they do so in what is called the auroral oval. This is a 3 – 6 degree-wide band that can stretch hundreds of kilometers east to west. So, if Northern Lights are appearing in one town located at 68° North, then they are appearing in many more towns also located at 68° North. You just might not be able to see them because of weather conditions, namely cloud cover.

That means that some places are good places to see Northern Lights because they are perfectly positioned in the aurora zone and have auroras more frequently. Other places are good because they are easily accessible, like Reykjavik with direct flights from a number of European and US destinations. Some places are good because they are so scenic that Northern Lights just make an already spectacular setting utterly phenomenal.

Abisko is a village in Sápmi (Lapland), in northern Sweden, roughly 250 km within the Arctic Circle, and near Abisko National Park.

Abisko is the best place in Europe to see Northern Lights because it has conditions that line up and make the Northern Lights appear on average 159 nights (of the approximately 212 nights that are dark enough for Auroras to be seen) each year, according to scientists. Abisko is known as a Polar desert and is located in the middle of the auroral zone at 68° North and 200 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. Protected by the peaks of the mountains surrounding Abisko National Park and coupled with the fact that Abisko receives the least amount of precipitation than anywhere else in Sweden, it statistically has the most nights of clear skies of anywhere else in Europe.

Dark, clear nights is one key ingredient in the recipe to a successful Northern Lights sighting. That Abisko also lies in the middle of the aurora zone means it also is statistically most often located in the 3 – 6 degree-wide latitude that the auroral oval occurs in. In the simplest terms possible, if you stay in Abisko for three nights you have an 80% chance of Northern Lights making an appearance.

If you will visit Iceland, Finland, Norway or Svalbard only hoping to see the Northern Lights, you would be probably be really disappointed. Instead, each destination gave you fantastic opportunities to be mushers for the day, go glacier hiking, and look for polar bears on a snowmobile expedition. Your adventure will be a memorable one when you have activities planned that you’re really excited for and seeing the Northern Lights is an added bonus if they do come out to dance.

In order to see the Northern Lights, you need a dark, clear night. They are visible from late September to March anywhere from 6pm to 6am. There also needs to be solar flares on the sun or solar wind; the Aurora Borealis happens when particles from the sun enter Earth’s atmosphere and collide violently with gas atoms. There are Aurora forecasts and we even use the Aurora Forecast app for iPhone that will predict the aurora activity level. But the fact is, the Northern Lights are unpredictable.

As I said before, it has to be dark to see the Northern Lights. That may mean you need to get out of the city to avoid light pollution. The Northern Lights are visible in cities like Reykjavik and Tromsø when they are at the strongest, but your best bet is to seek out spots in the Arctic countryside.

Northern Lights tours are great because the tour operators have been chasing the Northern Lights for years and can find the best spots for potential viewing even when there is low hanging cloud cover. Most tour operators will even offer for you to join a tour the next evening if you don’t see the Northern Lights.

Best way is to opt out for Northern Lights nightly photo tour with Lights Over Lapland.

Charges for tour 8700 INR or 1195 Swedish Krona

Link: http://lightsoverlapland.com/advent…

Lights Over Lapland’s tours are designed in a way that will accommodate as many different levels of physical fitness as possible. We usually walk less than one kilometer per direction to and from our many locations in Abisko National Park. It is common to walk in deep snow and in cold conditions during our tours. If you have any physical limitations that may cause you to be unable to walk a total of two kilometers please inform us when you make a booking so we can discuss your needs ahead of time .

Temperature: temperatures dipping to -25°C (-13°F)

And preferably a sturdy one as when you’re shooting the Northern Lights it will be dark and probably cold and windy. Plus to get that perfect foreground you are looking for, you may not be on flat and level terrain and will more than likely be on unstable snow and ice.

In -25 degree you can not afford to off your warm gloves so invest in a remote shutter release.

We tried to share as much as information we could collect from internet for our members. We are going to all these places to chase Northern Lights from 16th October to 30th October 2017 and if you want to join us than click on the following link
http://travelbuddiestalk.com/event/northern-lights-hunting-tour-bucket-list-ticker/kindly follow us and LIKE our page.