Resources for Seeing the Northern Lights
RESOURCES
There are many resources and forecasting tools available for the dedicated aurora hunter:
- - Aurora forecast from the Alaska Geophysical Institute – very good and straightforward tool providing forecasts for 3-4 days in advance on the Kp scale. Choose your region from the left-hand side of the page (“Select a Map” box) and use the Next button (top-right) to navigate. A Kp of 3 is more than enough and you’ll be lucky to get it. There’s also a short-term forecast (top-right, hourly updates), lots of info on auroras and forecasting, and a handy mobile version for the iPhone that you can take with you on the road
- - Current aurora activity from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This provides short-term forecasts and is a good tool to use in the field
- - Past activity for the last seven days and for the last month (includes historical mean values) from the Tromso Geophysical Observatory
- - Tromso all-sky camera from the Japan National Institute of Polar Research. Good tool that provides snapshots of the Tromso sky taken every 30 seconds. Really helpful to check when the aurora display starts above Tromso to better time your nightly trip (if you’re not using a tour)
- - Detailed cloud cover forecast for Norway and the world from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute
- - Aurora Australis forecast
TOURS
For Northern Lights viewing, a tour is not a bad option, but you will need to do your research first. Google is a good option for research - search for northern lights tours in xxx, where xxx is your chosen location (i.e. Tromso). Sites of local tourism offices or travel sites such as TripAdvisor will also help.
You will find two types of tours: the flashy and expensive ones with well-known guides that boast impressive results and the cheaper, more regular ones. We recommend the latter if you do your homework in terms of picking the best location and time, and in preparing in terms of weather, clothes and logistics.
Expensive tours are ideal for people who don't won't to worry too much about all of these issues; keep in mind that they will book fast, so you need to book well in advance. Cheaper tours are more widely available but you will also need to book fast.
For different experiences and locations you may want to book a different tour every night; booking with the same company for multiple nights is also a good option if you find one that you like and stick with it.
Some companies offer boat tours, which is a relaxing and interesting option. Just keep in mind that this will ruin your pictures due to the boat's movements (even when the engine is off; the smallest movement of the boat in the water will show in your pictures).
Keep reading for our chapter on Northern Lights brightness.
