Northern lights or Aurora Borealis share a name with the Roman Goddess of dawn, but the northern lights are nothing like any other dawn you would have seen before! The picture in this post shows the northern lights shot close to Tromsø, in Norway, some 300 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle (see recent Tromsø post). The northern lights are caused when charged sub-atomic particles (electrons and protons) enter the Earth’s upper atmosphere. The sub-atomic particles, have energy liberating interactions with atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere, causing the atoms to enter ‘excited’ states and emit visible light – the colours observed. If science isn’t your cup of tea, you don’t have to understand what causes the northern lights, to appreciate their staggering beauty… suffice it to understand it’s simply a fantastical and magical display!
Visit Norway say Tromsø is one of the best places in the world to see Aurora Borealis, but why fly to Norway when the northern lights have been seen as far south as the (Isle of Man in the British Isles) recently?
Planning a northern lights trip? The MET Office in the UK as well as other bodies around the planet monitor solar activity (an important factor in the intensity of the northern lights) – to see the latest forecasts download the app from Visit Norway or visit the Aurora Service EU website.
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Tromsø – Best place to see the Northern Lights?