Iceland Part 13 - Aurora Borealis Northern Lights

Aurora Borealis above Stöðvarfjörður in East Fjords

Northern lights are THE BEST light show on Earth. Once seen never forgotten, and if you are not addicted, consider your self very lucky. Iceland is in the middle of auroral zone, so nearly ever clear night you should see this natures' magical show. Unfortunately, Iceland also seems to be positioned in the middle of low pressure front, so this means clear nights are not as common. I was always fascinated by this phenomena. At one point I just wanted to go for a long weekend to Iceland, just so I can see it. I have been advised (by native Icelanders) that if I only want to see Northern lights, Iceland is not the country for it, due to its cloud cover. Once here, the advice became real and I can only second that. But Iceland has so many great things to do and see, it's easy to come here for 10 days and in that time keep an eye on the night sky, pray for a clear patch and hope the sun will have a temper tantrum.

Stöðvarfjörður

The best times to see them are during autumn and spring solstice, as this is when the sun is most active, but you can come here any-time (apart from summer, when they do not get dark enough nights).

West Fjords, my first sighting. Even if a night starts off cloudy, watch out for a gap in the clouds.

This was the best two hours of my life. In the morning I was in Reykjavik area, when I heard a rumour that there is a 20% change of clear sky happening that night in East fjords. The only clear patch in whole Iceland. Last night CME (Coronal mass ejection) has hit Earths' atmosphere and some of the action could have been seen. I have driven through torrential rain and gale force winds for 10 hours to get there. At Skaftafell I wanted to turn around, as I could not picture anywhere in the world not raining, never mind anywhere on the island. And my determination has paid of. This formation is called Corona

Why only two hours? Because the clouds that were circling around me finally closed in. I'm not sure if anyone is conducting a research into the matter, but I'm sure there is more to it than just a coincidence that every clear night that had Aurora also attracted clouds. You can also see meteor, Jupiter, Pleiades and Milky way in this picture.

Egilsstaðir camp site. Aurora arrives in waves. If Aurora dies down and you think the show is over at 10 or 11pm, stay put. I didn't know this, so after a show I went to camp site. At 2am, I woke up because a "blast" has lit up my car and I couldn't believe my eyes. This is not it, but I jumped out of the car, set up and was photographing the rest of the show. Ideally you want to be out of town, where there is minimal light polution. If you get a strong aurora (like in this picture) you can see it, even through the town lights.

Aurora creates lots of different shapes. Here is Swan. Or whatever you can see. Let me know. What surprised me was how Icelanders do not seem to be excited about Aurora. I only met one guy who was just as smitten as me. Well not quite but it came closer than rest of them. I know they see it a lot, but I can not imagine I would ever tire of it. In all 4 times I got to see it, it was different everytime. I wonder, if there are people in some dry desert, watching British TV and get excited at the sight of constant rain and saying how they would never complain about it.

Another huge plus for Iceland is, that out of towns the light polution is minimal. So you get to see and photograph Milky way as well.

These bands gave as much light as full moon. I have to say though, that no photograph or a film can do justice to when you are there, and this light show is happening above your head. I have missed so many photographs, as I was in awe of the breathtaking phenomena. Sight once seen never forgotten.

Hello, my name is Ren and I'm an Aurora Addict.