Northern lights questions | Norway - Lonely Planet Forum

ONLINE

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 03:08:05 +0000

Hi everyone,

I know there's already a thread below about northern lights but i have more questions:

each time it appears, how long do they typically last for?
is it a big thing for people who live there too? If I'm in a bar having a drink and aurora appears outside, would people start telling everyone or will they not even be bothered?
how good are the chances seeing aurora in Svalbad in May?
can you se them move?
are they bright enough to photograph?

Pardon the questions, I live in the tropics. Trying to decide if I should go to Svalbad in May. I want to do snow mobile and dogsled trips, but seeing the lights is also a major deciding factor.

Man, would hate to learn that say 10 days I was there, northern lights appeared every night but I missed them all because either I was asleep, or was in the toilet that short 5 mins, or in the bar and nobody said anything because the locals all don't find it special enough to mention!!

ONLINE

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 07:35:51 +0000

Several hours usually
Nope
No chances whatsoever
Absolutely
Yes, could be.

Forget about the NL, you'll get midnight sun instead! Much brighter. :-)

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.

ONLINE

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 10:38:01 +0000

A bit more:
re 3: from mid April there is Midnight sun in Svalbard - there is "day"(sun up) for 24 hours!! You cannot see the NL in daylight.

re 5: there are 1000s of pages you can google to get info on that. Note you wil normally need a tripod!!

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.

ONLINE

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 11:14:00 +0000

Thanks you both.

I've seen midnight sun already - in Lofoten Islands long time ago. Didn't know it starts as early as April!

What about Tromso or Stavanger then? Aurora still possible early May?

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.

ONLINE

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 11:25:02 +0000

The internet is full of places where you - as well as I - can look up when there is sunrise and sunset -or when Midnight sun starts and ends at various locations.

Tromsø is still to far north to have any chance in the summer.
Stavanger is sufficient south to have a few semi-dark hours at night in the spring/summer, but it is also too far south to have any measurable probability for seeing NL of a strength that can be seen unless it is VERY dark. And a a coastal town it is a cloudy palce.

Please go for NL in th winter!

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.

ONLINE

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 11:57:20 +0000

Photographing the aurora will take more than just pointing and shooting, unless you will be happy with a faint blur. Here's a useful guide to aurora photography: http://www.venhaus1.com/photographaurora.html

The locals in Finland's Arctic regions don't consider the aurora remarkable. No doubt it's the same everywhere.

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.

ONLINE

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:05:27 +0000

I've seen midnight sun already - in Lofoten Islands long time ago. Didn't know it starts as early as April!

The time period depends upon the latitude. At the North Pole it starts in March.

how good are the chances seeing aurora in Svalbard...?

Svalbard is actually too far north to be an ideal northern lights destination, even the dark half of the year. In Scandinavia/Finland, the best latitudes are around 70 degrees.

...in May

Already too light in May to see the Northern Lights at any arctic location.

Several hours usually

That may be typical of major displays, such as you would be aware of in places with light pollution. But minor displays lasting 10mins-60mins, which are only detectable in very dark places, are perhaps more common.

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.

Pro tip