Seeing the northern lights: what to expect
Being prepared and patient is key to grabbing spectacular views of the aurora
Anyone who hasn’t witnessed the northern lights already has an image in their minds of what it looks like. They picture it to be a vivid green arc or curtains of light that dominate the entirety of the Arctic sky, so bright that it reflects from the lakes and rivers that it dances above. Perhaps they imagine it to have hints of purple or red. Why this is so is because they have been influenced by images, found anywhere from books to websites, or even shots on a digital camera. It is pretty easy to fall into the trap of thinking that is what they will see with their own eyes and, all of the way up to the moment that they see the first sliver of light, expectations will be high.
Sadly, these individuals are often disappointed.
The aurora borealis isn’t as bright and colourful as it appears in the images they have pored over and neither do they seem to dominate the sky in curtains and twisty light trails.
The truth is that the real thing is actually much paler and fainter than what we’re made to believe in images. You’ll see the dancing of the northern lights, but the strong, bold colours you see in pictures are actually achieved by a photographer, more specifically the camera they are using. It’s true that the colours are real, but the moment a camera’s shutter opens light gathers onto a sensor that’s much more sensitive than your eyes and creates the exaggerated green, red or purple aurorae that you see in books and on websites.
That’s not to say that you won’t see any colours, however. While it’s more common to see a pale, colourless aurora in the northern sky, some have reported seeing slight tinges of green or hints of pink. In general though, your eyes are blind to the colours of the northern lights. It is only a camera and the magic of timed exposures that’s able to pick out anything other than white.
Despite many of us being frustratingly colourblind to it, the aurora borealis is still a magical experience to behold. Its unpredictable dance in the night sky, its changes in intensity and even the sheer excitement of waiting for it to arrive all add to the effect of a jawdropping wonder to witness.
Remember that it’s often a waiting game when it comes to aurora hunting. It’s said that the best time to find the aurora is between the hours of 10:00pm and 3:00am during times of peak solar activity. However there will be times where you’ll be waiting out in the cold for hours, not seeing the aurora at all on your trip, along with varying degrees of activity. Despite this you should wrap up warm, check aurora forecasts, stay awake and be ready – it’s very easy for a show to be over before it’s really had a chance to begin.