Here are some of the best spots to catch the view. That's why this article focuses on the northern lights — for reasons of practicality, not antipodean antipathy. Northern Lights can be seen in the northern or southern hemisphere, in an irregularly shaped oval centred over each magnetic pole. The next peak period is 2013. If you live in Europe, the easiest thing to do is head to the far northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland.
The Venus Express spacecraft found Get breaking space news and the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!Thank you for signing up to Space. Russia, by contrast, "is pretty much out," Deehr said.
The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere.
1 aurora-watching destination on the planet, due to the fact that it is located in a very special microclimate with less precipitation than any other location on Iceland is also a good choice, Deehr said, as long as you make sure to set aside enough time to compensate for cloudy skies. The northern lights result when charged particles streaming from the sun collide with molecules high up in Earth's atmosphere, exciting these molecules and causing them to … The Canadian Space Agency offers a live feed of the skies above Yellowknife, in Canada's Northwest Territories: So where should you go? But you should probably steer clear of far eastern Canada, which tends to be quite cloudy, Deehr said. \par Many cultural groups have legends about the lights.
"Between James Bay and the west coast of Alaska — anywhere along that auroral zone is a good place to be," he said. The Maori of New Zealand shared a belief with many northern people of Europe and North America that the lights were reflections from torches or campfires. "In general, Scandinavia is set up," Deehr told Space.com. Rare, all-red auroras are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 200 miles.
The best places in Canada to view the northern lights The skies across the country will light up with the breathtaking colours of the aurora borealis during the solar maximum this year.
(Southern Hemisphere dwellers take heart: The aurora australis can sometimes be viewed from New Zealand and Tasmania.) New York, The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres.
Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, To fully appreciate the glory and grandeur of this celestial display, which is also known as the "I was camping, just lying out in a field in a sleeping bag on a late September night and looking up at the stars," said Terry Onsager, a physicist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado. (James Bay is the far southern portion of Canada's huge Hudson Bay.) Scientists have learned that in most instances northern and southern auroras are mirror-like images that occur at the same time, with similar shapes and colors. You need darkness to see the northern lights, and places in the auroral zone have precious little of it during the summer months.You also want clear skies. Please refresh the page and try again.Space is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Between late September and late March, Northern Norway is dark from early afternoon until late morning, and the northern lights frequently soar across the sky. "There are a lot of tours, and a lot of English-speaking people who are willing to take you out," Deehr said, adding that the scenery in the region is "fantastic. For example, the summer may be a good time for a vacation, but a better time to see auroras is actually between winter and spring. Variations in colour are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. "Or you could check out a number of other locations, such as northern "Abisko has developed a reputation for being the No. "Onsager had his aurora experience in northern Norway — one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights. NY 10036. The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offerThis gorgeous auroral display over Sweden's Abisko National Park was captured on Feb. 16, 2015 by photographer Chad Blakley (www.lightsoverlapland.com). While a decent swathe of the auroral zone lies in northern Russia, such areas are relatively hard to get to and lack the tourism infrastructure most travelers are after, he explained.There are also plenty of options for good aurora viewing in North America. (The island nation's weather can be uncooperative.) Iceland. (Image credit: Chad Blakley / www.lightsoverlapland.com)The northern lights are more formally known as auroras, and are caused by interactions between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field. The most common auroral color, a pale yellowish-green, is produced by oxygen molecules located about 60 miles above the earth. "They're in good shape for this. "All of a sudden, the most spectacular lights and swirls and rays just filled the sky, dancing and darting here and there," Onsager told Space.com. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora. In Roman myths, Aurora was the goddess of the dawn. Read on to find out when and where to see the northern lights, and what powers this dazzling display.If you're planning an aurora-viewing trip, make sure not to schedule it in the middle of summer. "It was just unbelievable.
The Northern Lights are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere. They are known as 'Aurora borealis' in the north and 'Aurora australis' in the south.. The lights are known as 'Aurora borealis' in the north and 'Aurora australis' in the south.