A few years ago, we took a short trip up to Norway to see our friends Aaron and Coree, as well as go looking for the Northern Lights (or the aurora borealis). Since we went in February, there was some daylight, but plenty of night in which to experience the dancing lights.
As you can see, we were fortunate and able to see them, but more on that later.
We enjoyed the cultural experiences and, of course, the museums.
These are images from the Fram Museum and focuses on polar exploration.
The museum’s namesake ship.
Rather austere living conditions.
After a couple days, Anna and I left Alexander in the care of our friends and headed back into the Arctic Circle for a few days in Tromsø. We started by using the limited daylight to take the Fjellheisen cable car up a mountain for sweeping panoramic views.
The Arctic Cathedral.
We took a Northern Lights safari… think big bus with lots of people out to likely sites. Once we arrived, everyone got out and tromped through the snow and ice to a good spot, away from artificial lights.
I’m sure you’re aware of how the aurora comes to be seen, however, if not, here’s a quick (overly simplified explanation). The sun emits radiation. When the radiation reaches the Earth, it interacts with the poles and the Earth’s magnetosphere. That interaction produces a dancing or blanket light over the higher latitudes of the Earth. We were told around 70 degrees is ideal… conveniently the same latitude as Tromsø.
The different colors represent the different altitude and gases that the Sun’s radiation encounters in the atmosphere. The red is the highest level and is oxygen based. The green color is by far the most common and happens at a lower altitude. The interaction is both nitrogen and oxygen to produce the green light.
The yellow is a combination of the red and green reactions.
It was a simply beautiful display in the night sky … dancing lights.
After several hours of braving the cold and dark winterscape, we headed back to the hotel.
During the day, we took a driving tour of the surrounding countryside. It was equally beautiful during the day.
After a few days in the Arctic Circle, we flew back down to Oslo to hang out with our friends a while longer, then back down to Southern Europe.
It was a great trip…
Until the next time.
–Jim