The main reason we decided to go to Iceland in October was to give us the most chances to see the Northern Lights. Watching the Aurora Borealis dance across the sky is mostly a matter of luck. In order to see them, you need a dark, clear night. They are visible from late August to early April anytime during dark hours. In Iceland during the winter there can be darkness nearly 24 hours a day. That would be great for seeing the Northern Lights but not for much else a tourist would want to do. There also needs to be solar flares on the sun; the Aurora Borealis happens when particles from the sun enter the earth's atmosphere and collide violently with gas atoms. There are Aurora forecasts and even an Aurora Forecast app for you phone which will predict the aurora activity.
We had the app on our phones and had been watching carefully but every night either the skies were cloudy or the magnetic activity too low. Finally on the night of October 12, things aligned just right and the forecast was perfect. Clear skies and a KP (measurement of magnetic activity) of 5-6. So excited!!!!
We went out at the time that was supposed to be the best and couldn't see much. A nice man camping by us who had a camera set up on a tripod, suggested that we try taking a photo because he said, "they are out there dancing right now. You just can't see them with your naked eye." And he was right! There they were. As the evening went on, we could see them better just looking but they were amazing through the camera.
George and I stayed out until about 11:30. The peak time was supposed to be 3:00 a.m. but we decided that we had seen enough and didn't set an alarm. Luckily, I woke up at 2:45 and decided to get out of my warm bed and have a look. Boy am I glad I did! The color filled the whole sky in one direction. Simply breathtaking!
I love the Facebook comment my cousin, Leigh Ann Stankoski shared when I posted photos of the lights, "God sure can paint." Amen to that!
No comments:
Post a Comment