
In Search of the Northern Lights - pseudolus
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/travel/northern-lights-tourism-in-sweden.html
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lubujackson
Northern Lights are a bit like the weather, in that you can predict them to a
degree but not precisely (just Google "aurora forecast"). They also ebb and
flow in strength over 12 year cycles. My wife and I went to Iceland in March a
few years back and saw some amazing auroras. They are awesome to see,
especially the big and powerful ones. They shift and move around the sky like
visible magnetic fields, just arcing wildly, fading and forming into view with
those weird CGA monitor colors.

Iceland in March was one of those amazing trips where you we drove to amazing
and famous waterfalls and geysers and were always the only people there. We
did the whole Ring Road around the island and the northern part of the country
was so desolate we ate most of our meals at gas stations because there was
literally nothing else open. Along the eastern coast we drove an entire day
and saw only one car coming the other direction.

~~~
willio58
Looked up “aurora forecast”. Clicked first result, “drupal is ready to be set
up”. Haha

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grecy
When I'm not on the road I live in Whitehorse, Yukon.

Some years I see them every single night walking home from work, often strong
enough to make me actually stop and gape. Many times I have had to pull over
while driving to watch the spectacle.

They're different each and every time they come out, and simply breathtaking.

Come up to the Yukon or Alaska in late September through into October. There
won't quite be snow on the ground yet, and if you stay a few weeks I'll
virtually guarantee you'll see them a good deal

[http://theroadchoseme.com/northern-
lights-1](http://theroadchoseme.com/northern-lights-1)

There were taken about 10 minutes from town:

[http://theroadchoseme.com/northern-
lights-2](http://theroadchoseme.com/northern-lights-2)

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pwm
My then girlfriend and I went to Iceland in 2014. I proposed there, she said
yes and then within a minute a huge amazing aurora lit up the sky including
deep red colours and crazy waves. It was a memorable experience :)

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widforss
I live in Norrbotten, the county where the reporter went. While I love the
place, the climate and the people, I just don't see why so many people pay so
much to just come and see the auroras, while missing out of so much actual
nature in the area.

Maybe I'm just acclimatized.

~~~
Moru
I've lived at 64 degrees north Sweden all my life, yes you get acclimatized. I
have recently rediscovered them thanks to relatives from south europe visiting
and reminding me of what goes on up in the sky during the nights. Started
going out when the aurora reports says it's a chance and keep seeing them
pretty regularly. Every time I do, I meet some french or japanese or other
nationality students with cameras out in the edges of town. Mostly students
having relatives visiting from homecountry, wanting to see it.

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pseudolus
The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska - Fairbanks offers an
ongoing Aurora Forecast [0]. The site also includes a handy faq (scroll to the
bottom).

[0] [https://www.gi.alaska.edu/monitors/aurora-
forecast](https://www.gi.alaska.edu/monitors/aurora-forecast)

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th0ma5
In 1999, I had an unlimited use email pager and one of the things I subscribed
to was an aurora alert system you can read about here
[http://www.keteu.org/~mark/aurora/](http://www.keteu.org/~mark/aurora/) ... I
was in North central Ohio at the time, got a page, and went outside and saw
the aurora. Not nearly as vivid as in photos... A green splotch that slowly
developed an orange glow and then disappeared over the course of an hour. I
feel very lucky to have seen it at such low latitudes and in a somewhat light
polluted area. Googling has turned up some other similar and modern projects,
and as the sun cycle starts up again, hopefully more people get a chance to
catch it sometime.

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mark-r
I didn't think auroras were frequent or predictable enough to support tourism.

It's been 20 years since I've seen one here in Minnesota, although I don't go
looking very frequently. I've seen some good ones though.

~~~
e12e
> I didn't think auroras were frequent or predictable enough to support
> tourism.

> It's been 20 years since I've seen one here in Minnesota (...)

Note that there's a big difference between the "hot" area close to the poles,
and further south. For example Tromsø sits at 69 degrees northern latitude,
Minnesota around 49.

Going for a weekend trip - you'd have to be lucky, going for a couple of
weeks, you'd be virtually guaranteed.

Only downside is that you can't see the aurora in spring-summer due to the
polar day/midnight sun (just like you can't see the stars during the day).

Surprisingly little mention of Tromsø, Norway in the article - there's been a
building winter tourism trade here since the 80s,and it still seems to be
growing.

Unfortunately there's quite a bit of light pollution from the city - but it's
not far to drive to more rural areas with better viewing.

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tapland
49? That's the same as Normandy, France.

I've lived for 10+ years at 59 degrees (Stockholm, Sweden) and never seen one
clearly, even though I'm a night owl and watch the aurora reports, and none of
the people I knew had ever seen one in that area. Where I am now at 50 degrees
noone would even consider looking for them, it's so far south.

~~~
e12e
Yeah, I was more than a little surprised they'd seen them in Minnesota. But I
see that might not have been as clear as I intended...

~~~
tapland
No, your comment was pretty clear. I was just surprised at the original
comment when you pointed out that it was 49 degrees.

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0x38B
Alaskan here. It's otherworldly when the sky is on fire above you.

My brother braved the cold and took this video:
[https://youtu.be/odNrFTib1Qg](https://youtu.be/odNrFTib1Qg)

