See the Northern Lights
2024 has been a year of maximal solar activity, which increases the likelihood of auroral activity. The Sun’s magnetic field gets all twisted up as the different latitudes rotate at different rates. This causes more prominences, sunspots, and loops in the magnetic field lines which trap ionised particles. If the magnetic field lines break, these particles are released into space, sometimes called a Coronal Mass Ejection. Should the Earth cross the path of these particles, they are captured by Earth’s magnetic field, and brought into the atmosphere where they react and produce lights.
So if there was any time to see the Northern Lights, this would be it!
We were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights from the UK a couple of times this year. This happens during very high activity. This spreads the area that aurora appear in, and cause the lights to appear higher in the sky. The colours indicate activity at higher altitudes, with red occurring at the highest altitudes. This is why we mostly see red aurora in the UK, if we see it at all. Because we are looking up towards the top of the lights, we see the red.
Red and green aurora above a dark field with some light clouds on the horizon. East Midlands, UK. 10th October 2024.
Red aurora above a row of houses with light cloud at the horizon. East Midlands, UK. 10th October 2024.
I still had a trip to Tromsø, Norway booked though! Tromsø is right under the auroral oval, so so long as there is any activity at all, Tromsø will get the lights (dark and clear skies permitting).
I had booked a guided tour in a minibus to chase the aurora in Tromsø. After being collected from the centre, we were then taken to a storage facility where we were kitted out in snow suits and boots to keep us warm. While temperatures on the island of Tromsøya don’t tend to dip much below freezing due to the Gulf stream, we’d be heading further inland (and even as far as Finland!) where the temperature could drop much lower.
It was nice to hear that there is a community of aurora chasing guides, and they stay in regular contact to update each other on whether the lights have appeared or not, and where incoming cloud may hamper chances. You’d expect all these companies to be in competition with each other, but at the end of the day, they all just want everyone to have seen the lights.
Once we’d found a spot to watch the lights from away from incoming cloud, our guide made sure everyone got a photograph with the lights, lit a bonfire to keep us warm, fed us expedition food (freeze dried meals that are reconstituted with boiling water) and gave us marshmallows to roast, all while talking through the physics that produces the lights. Eventually, as the aurora faded, we headed back to Tromsø and our hotel beds.
Red and green aurora in a starry sky above a snowy mountain range. Sarah stands in the foreground in a blue and black snow suit. Helligskogen, Norway. 1st November 2024.
Posts in this series
- Complete a 3 Peaks Challenge
- Go Horseback Riding
- See an Iconic West End Theatre Show
- See an Orchestra in Concert
- Have a Professional Photoshoot
- Take a Hot Air Balloon Ride at Sunrise
- Go on a Whale Watching Expedition
- Go on a Wildlife Safari
- Go Snorkelling or Scuba Diving
- See the Northern Lights
- Attend the Ballet
- 40 Before 40 Challenge