How can I have a guaranteed sighting of the Northern Lights?

Question

I know, I know. Nature has no guarantees, but what are my best odds

Answer 1

They are worth chasing - well, worth waiting for..

Try going to www.noaa.gov then go about half way down the page & click on space weather (it's near the little image of the sun)

You can look at the "geomagnetic storm level-current" to see how active aurora is on any evening.

If you look at the little map of the earth, you can also see what was happening during the last pass of satellites. If there was aurora over your area when the satellite passed, it should show up on the map.

Yellow, orange and red indicate aurora. The white and blue aren't aurora - you can ignore them.

To the left of the map is an activity level - goes from 0 to 10. Zero means you can stay in your warm house, and 10 means it is active although not necessarily in your area.

Sometimes we can get a clue that it may be a good night for aurora by checking in at www.spaceweather.com. This site keeps track of the solar wind streams that affect aurora. If something is on its way, they usually post it here.

A powerful solar wind storm is expected to reach earth on Oct. 19th or 20th so those might be good nights to watch.

Answer 2

Qoute:

Frequency of occurence

Within the auroral zone, the aurora can be seen every clear winter night. There are other regular variations:

*

The aurora is most frequent and intense from 2200 to midnight, magnetic time.
*

Brilliant auroras often occur at 27-day intervals as active areas on the sun's surface face earth during its 27-day rotation cycle.
*

Northern lights are more frequent in late autumn and early spring. October, February and March are the best months for auroral observations in northern Norway.
*

Northern lights activity corresponds closely to sunspot activity, which follows an 11-year cycle, but there seems to be a one-year delay between sunspot maximum and maximum auroral occurrence.
* Northern lights activity is 20-30% less during solar minimum than at solar maximum.

Northern lights are observed in Mediterranean countries only when solar activity is extremely high, maybe tens of years apart, and on average only once every 100 years.

end qoute

qoute:

Northern lights can be observed this often on the following places during solar maximum:

Andenes, Norway
Almost every dark and clear night

Fairbanks, Alaska
Five to ten times a month

Oslo, Norway
Roughly three nights a month

Northern Scotland, Great Britain
Roughly once a month

US/Canadian border
Two to four times a year

Mexico and Mediterranean countries
Once or twice a decade

South of the Mediterranean countries
Once or twice a century

Equator
Once in two hundred years

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Answer 3

I work a lot of night shifts and live in Southeast Alaska. I see the lights most often on especially cool, clear nights. A bright moon often drowns out any spectacular light shows. I generally see them beginning in the early Fall and through the Winter from as early as 10 in the evening until just before day break. When I initially see them they look like those spot lights used car lots use to lure in customers, but then I remember there is nothing like that where I live. The more you stop to watch them, the more brilliant they seem to come. Get away from town where its really dark. We generally get yellow to greenish lights. Once I saw more purplish-pink lights here.

Answer 4

Best odds of seeing the northern lights is to check the space weather..http://www.spaceweather.com/...look for solar flares and usually that will lead to the lights...if you understand what causes the lights then the rest is simple... the dust that results from the solar flares takes 2 or three days to reach our hemisphere...where there is dust there are lights...but also being in the northern hemisphere helps a lot

Answer 5

Depends on how far north you want to go. Sightings have happened in Michigan, Maine, even Ohio, etc. They are most active during the winter months. I am Eskimo and have watched them most of my lifetime in Alaska. As I said, the winter months are the best time to view them-in Alaska, from midnight to the early a.m. (3-4a.m.) & on usually very cold nights! (No clouds to block the view.) Where are you looking at them from?? It is truly a great experience to see the lights. Good luck!

Answer 6

They are correct, go above the Arctic Circle. I was fortunate to see them near the Arctic Circle in Norway. They are easy to see in Trondheim, Norway, and that's not even above the Arctic Circle. I also saw them in Southern Norway, but they are not as distinctive.

In general, I advise anyone to go visit Norway - it's a wonderful country with lots of character. Plus, there are plenty of friendly people willing to show you around - excellent English proficiency among people 30 years old or younger! I would advise that it gets awfully dark in the winter. It upset my mother and sister that it was only light for a few hours a day during the winter months. You have drawbacks when it comes to nature's miracles (i.e., the Northern Lights and scenic views). You may also get to see plenty of streetlights and reflectors on light jackets and clothing.

As they would say in Norway, ha det bra og ha det hyggelig! (Loosely translated expressions - have it well and have it happily.)

Answer 7

Go as far north as you can. Their is no gurantees so go somewhere away from the lights of the city. And even if you do see them they could be just faint and not exciting at all....but if your lucky you will see a crazy light show. Camping for a few days in the winter is probably your best bet.

Answer 8

Alaska

Answer 9

I was born and raised in Alaska and I find the best odds of seeing them is to go in the coldest months.

Answer 10

Best chance is Yellowknife Canada or second I would go to Fairbanks Alaska. Both locations are best in Winter.