10 Proven Tips for Seeing the Northern Lights. When to Go?

The northern lights are one of the most beautiful natural phenomena you can ever see. They are also one of the few things that never look better in even the best photograph than they do in real life. Watching the aurora dance right above your head is something very little can compare with. It is a magical play of light that ripples across the sky like a curtain in the wind. Sometimes the aurora is wild and races in every direction, other times it is fainter and calm. Every single time, though, it is a unique experience! You will never see the same thing twice.

In this article you will find all the information that will come in handy when you go looking for the northern lights. I spent half a year on the Arctic Circle in Finland and three months in Alaska myself, so I can pass on plenty of experience. The northern lights (also known as the Aurora Borealis) have become my passion.

1) Where to go to see the northern lights?

From Europe we most often head north to Scandinavia or to Iceland. Statistically, though, you have the best chance of seeing the northern lights in Alaska, in Fairbanks (if you stay there for at least three days, you should see the aurora). The reason is that the north magnetic pole is shifted away from the geographic one towards Canada and the USA. In Europe you therefore need to get a bit further north to have the same probability of seeing the northern lights. The best destinations for aurora watching in Europe are Tromsø in Norway and the northern part of Iceland.

The southern lights

With the southern lights it is even more complicated. To be able to see them from somewhere other than Antarctica, at least a minor geomagnetic storm has to occur. In that case they are visible above the southern horizon from the south of New Zealand and Tasmania.

2) When to head out on an aurora „hunt“?

We cannot see the aurora during the Arctic summer, when the sun does not set above the Arctic Circle. The season for watching the northern lights starts at the end of August and ends at the end of April. The autumn months and late winter/early spring are the best period. But since you also have to take cloud cover into account, the very best time for watching the northern lights in Scandinavia is the new moon in March.

3) Go north for a longer time

A simple rule applies here: the longer you spend in the north, the bigger your chance of seeing the northern lights! It is a good idea to plan your trip around other goals too, not just the aurora. The Nordic countries definitely have a lot to offer.

4) The best time of day for watching the northern lights

The best time for watching them is roughly from 10 pm to 1:30 am, when the aurora is at its brightest. In general you can see an amazing show from 9 pm until 3 am, and later in the night the aurora tends to be more diffuse. When activity is high you may spot it earlier as well.

Other factors that can affect visibility

• Cloud cover – clouds are probably the greatest enemy of every aurora watcher. If the cloud cover is local, it is ideal to have a car and to drive to a spot outside the clouds according to the radar.
• The moon – a full moon is not an obstacle to watching the northern lights, but because of the moonlight the aurora will not be as bright as it would be at new moon.
• The 11-year solar cycle – the northern lights are influenced by solar activity and the number of sunspots. Solar activity peaks every 11 years, which mainly affects the visibility and activity of the aurora in more distant regions (the chance of seeing the aurora in more southerly areas is highest at the maximum of the solar cycle). The last solar maximum was in 2014, and the next one comes in 2025.

5) How and where to follow the aurora forecast?

The basis of success is diligently following the forecast for the northern lights. The best forecast is provided by the Geophysical Institute in Alaska. There are also many handy mobile phone apps that send you a notification when activity increases. Of the apps, we can highly recommend My Aurora Forecast. It has all the features you need – notifications, a radar and the Kp index.

The Kp index

An important figure for forecasting the northern lights for the coming days is the so-called Kp index. It is an index of global geomagnetic activity. It takes values from 0 to 9 and indicates how strong the aurora activity we can expect over the following days will be (0 – no activity, 9 – an extremely strong geomagnetic storm).

We should pay attention if the forecast is at least Kp 4. That means the aurora should be active. Stay alert the day before and the day after such a forecast too. Of course, it is never a bad idea to check the current short-term forecast and the radar every evening. If the forecast is 5 or more, we have a practically guaranteed perfect show (as long as you are near the Arctic Circle).

This picture shows an overview of the bands indicating how far the possible visibility of the northern lights reaches at the individual Kp values. 

Aurora Forecast Radar

The most important thing is precisely the short-term forecast and something like a radar (the Ovation map), which tracks the activity of the northern lights. On the Space weather prediction website you will find the images on the far right: Aurora Forecast. You can also play back how things developed over the last day.

If your area is green, you have a chance of seeing the aurora. The more the colour shifts towards yellow, the better your chances. If it is red, the aurora is going crazy and you have an all-night show guaranteed!

So that you do not miss an amazing show, we recommend checking this radar every evening (the best thing is to have the app mentioned above downloaded, as it has everything in one place).

6) Get away from light pollution

To enjoy the show even more, try to drive somewhere outside the city, away from light pollution. It can help a great deal especially when the northern lights are weak. When the aurora is strong, you can see it even from right inside town.

7) Look for the northern lights towards the north*

It may seem obvious, but in most cases where the aurora is fainter or arrives slowly, it appears above the northern horizon first. Ideally there should be no hills or mountains blocking your view to the north. The further south of the Arctic Circle you are, the more this rule applies.

* In the southern hemisphere it is of course the other way round.

8) Do not give up straight away

The basic mistake most aurora watchers make is impatience. They look up at the sky, see nothing and leave. But you have to be patient with the northern lights. There are not many nights when they race across the sky non-stop. It is far more likely that you will see, say, a faint green band on the horizon. In that case it is ideal to sit down by a fire or simply watch the stars. Because in a little while an amazing light show may be waiting for you. How long will it last? That is the question. How long until the next performance? You never know, and that is why it is unwise to give up the aurora „hunt“ too early.

9) Get ready for the cold

Depending on the season and the location, greater or lesser cold awaits you. It is not wise to underestimate it, because being cold is the last thing you want to be bothering you while you watch that perfect show in the sky (I know what I am talking about, spending 6 hours at -20 °C is seriously unpleasant, but the aurora is so amazing that you simply cannot go inside!)

Clothing is the foundation, ideally in several layers. We can highly recommend merino wool and down. The absolute ideal is if you have the option of building a fire where you can warm up. In Scandinavia you commonly come across public fire pits half sheltered by a shelter. What kind of gear will come in handy?

• A thermos of tea
• Heat packs (the kind where you snap something inside and they start warming up)
• Warm long socks
• A hat
• Gloves
• Quality clothing in several layers
• A warm sleeping bag to wrap yourself in has also worked well for us.

With this equipment you will be ready to watch the northern lights all night long!

10) How to photograph the northern lights?

The secret to all success is a tripod, even if you are planning to shoot on your phone. These days there are apps that will help you photograph the northern lights on a phone too (the photos from a phone will not be perfect, but as a memento they may be enough). Apps that will help you with the shooting are, for example, these: iOS, Android. Truly high-quality photographs, however, can only be taken with a good camera.

7 steps to setting up your camera for photographing the northern lights

1. A tripod – the tripod is the most important thing. Without one you will not take a nice photo of the northern lights.
2. Manual settings – for night photography we will need full manual mode. You need to turn off both stabilisation and the flash.
3. Manual focus – you need to focus on infinity or on the most distant horizon possible. The best way to do it is through the „live view“ screen, where you zoom in a lot on one of the stars and focus on it.
4. ISO – depending on the intensity of the aurora / the moonlight you will have to set the ISO sensitivity. Ideally between 800 and 3200. To begin with, start at 1600 and adjust as needed (a fainter aurora and less light need a higher ISO, and conversely if it is strong, a lower ISO will do).
5. Aperture – set the aperture as low as possible (the aperture is the F value).
6. Exposure time – you can experiment with the time; something between 4 and 10 seconds has worked best for us. With a strong aurora even 1–2 seconds may be enough. With less mobile auroras you can also try 20-30 seconds.
7. A remote shutter release – if you do not have a remote control, use the timer with a 2-second delay
8. Timelapse – once you are happy with the settings, switch on sequential shooting, which will create a beautiful timelapse for you. Meanwhile you will be able to enjoy the colourful show to the full!

What else is a camera good for?

When the northern lights are weak and only just arriving, they can create the illusion of a cloud. If you are not sure whether you are seeing a very faint aurora in the sky or an ordinary cloud, you can help yourself with a camera. A camera is far more sensitive, and if it really is the northern lights, your „cloud“ will be green in the photo.

What actually are the northern lights and what causes them?

The northern lights are a light phenomenon that takes place high up in the atmosphere (most often in the ionosphere, at roughly 100 km). We can observe them around the earth’s magnetic poles. They are caused by the solar wind – a stream of particles coming from the sun, containing electrons, protons and alpha particles. (Our planet’s magnetic field deflects most of the particles from the solar wind back into space.) The particles that the magnetic field captures then react with the molecules and atoms of the gases in the atmosphere, and that is how the northern lights arise.

The name Aurora Borealis

The northern lights are called the Aurora Borealis. Aurora comes from the name of the Roman goddess of the dawn, and Borealis from the Greek name for the north wind – Boreas. The southern lights are called the Aurora Australis.

What colours can the northern lights be?

What colour the aurora will be depends on the composition and density of the atmosphere and on the altitude at which the reaction takes place. The most common colour of the northern lights is green. Green and yellow-green colours are caused by oxygen at an altitude of around 100 km. At an altitude of around 320 km, the reaction of oxygen and the solar wind creates a red aurora. Nitrogen causes blue, pink and red-pink colours.

Read also: Lofoten: 27 amazing places + an itinerary and a map for a road trip from Tromsø

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FAQ – frequently asked questions about the northern lights

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