How to See the Northern Lights
The most spectacular show on earth is 100 percent free, but you have to be willing to bundle up (and travel) to see it.
It’s a bucket-list dream for many: spotting the night sky’s famed, otherworldly aurora at the ends of the Earth. What makes the northern and southern lights so special—their remoteness, their unpredictability—is exactly what can make them a bit of a challenge to get to see. We’ve got you covered. Consider this your cheat sheet for pulling off a once-in-a-lifetime sighting.
What They Are
The aurora borealis (northern lights) and aurora australis (southern lights) are naturally occurring displays of green, yellow, violet, red, and sometimes blue light. In basic scientific terms, you’re seeing atmospheric oxygen and nitrogen animated by electric particles from space.
Where They Are
Theoretically, you could view the lights from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Russia, Canada, or Alaska. But popular towns to base aurora-chasing trips are Kiruna, Sweden; Rovaniemi, Finland; Borðeyri, Iceland; and Yellowknife, in Canada’s Northwest Territories.
When to See Them
General guidelines: Go to Canada and Alaska from August to May, Finland from late August to April, Sweden from September to March, and Iceland from late August to mid-April. The time of night doesn’t matter, as long as sunlight doesn’t outshine the natural pyrotechnics.
How to Best See Them
Get away from civilization (“Nothing dilutes an aurora display like light pollution,” says Laura Gay of the U.K.-based Aurora Zone), and be prepared to sit around. “We have to wait for the aurora to show up and to activate when it’s in the sky,” says Eduardo Fraile, museum keeper at Aurora Reykjavik.
How to Capture Them
You’ll need a tripod and a camera that you can set manually. Fraile suggests adjusting the focus to infinity and trying a slow shutter speed (like 10 seconds), the widest aperture possible (3.5 or lower), and a high starting ISO (like 1600) with a white balance of around 3000 Kelvin.
About the author: Michael Y. Park is a journalist living in New York City. He’s traveled through Afghanistan disguised as a Hazara Shi’ite, slept with polar bears on the Canadian tundra, picnicked with the king and queen of Malaysia, tramped around organic farms in Cuba, ridden the world’s longest train through the Sahara, and choked down gasoline clams in North Korea.
