![]() However, by knowing what it takes to see the Northern Lights, you can improve your chances massively! In the same way you can not guarantee good weather for your outdoor wedding or great snow conditions on a ski trip, the Northern Lights can never be guaranteed. Why is Fairbanks the best place to see the Northern Lights? Sometimes when there’s a very active Aurora, it can feel like it’s coming down and almost like you can touch it! I know I have instinctively backed away against the side my car or a tree or rock but rest assured that the northern lights are happening at least 50 miles above the earth (at least five times as high as an airplane flies) and up to 200 miles above the earth so it’s not actually going to reach you even though it REALLY feels like it might. The most common color is green, but you can also see red and purple colors in an active display! The different colors visible in the Northern Lights are caused by the solar wind interacting with different gases at different altitudes in our atmosphere. If you have no idea what I’m talking about with the bar magnets, check out this short and awesome video that visually explains how the northern lights work. The same thing happens in the southern hemisphere, but there isn’t much land around the southern aurora oval except Antarctica so it’s much harder to get to a place to see them. The aurora oval (not the north pole) is the part of the earth where the northern lights are most often visible. If you remember bar magnets from elementary school, the iron filings get caught up in a loop around the north and south pole of the magnet, and that’s just what happens with the aurora! There’s a concentration of radiation around the poles called the aurora oval. The answer has to do with the earth’s magnetic field, which protects us by deflecting the solar wind around the earth. Why does this happen in Alaska and other parts of the north (and south), you might be wondering? When the gases in our atmosphere get charged up by this radiation they start to glow, which causes the northern lights. The magical colors we see flashing and rolling across the sky are caused by the interaction of the gases in the earth’s atmosphere protecting us from the solar wind, harmful radiation that is constantly flying at the earth across the solar system. Photo credit: Jay Flaming What are the Northern Lights?īefore going any farther, it’s important to know what we are even talking about when talking about the Northern Lights! The Northern Lights are technically called the Aurora Borealis and in Alaska they are generally referred to as the “Aurora” or “the lights”. How to improve your chances of seeing the Northern Lightsīlack spruce silhouette an aurora display and meteor streaks near Fairbanks Alaska.When is the best time of year to see the Northern Lights?.Why is Fairbanks, Alaska the best place to see the Northern Lights?. ![]() Read on to learn how to plan your own quest to see the Northern Lights in Alaska! My husband, Jay Flaming, a twelve year resident of Fairbanks and experienced photographer, collaborated with me on this article and provided the photography tips. This article will talk about what the northern lights are, why Fairbanks is the best place to see them, how to improve your chances of seeing them and what to wear to stay warm. I still visit Alaska, including Fairbanks, regularly so I also know how to best see them as a visitor. ![]() I don’t know anyone who has lived in Alaska for a lifetime whose appreciation for the lights ever diminished. During that time I got to experience them routinely and my sense of awe only increased, I never took it for granted. I was lucky enough to live in Fairbanks, Alaska for four years, one of the best places to see the Northern Lights in the world. Add to that the unpredictability and changing nature of them, and seeing the northern lights in Alaska is the adventure and experience of a lifetime! No matter how many photos you’ve seen, or even videos, this is not even close to the experience of seeing and feeling them! Seeing the Northern Lights for yourself is an experience absolutely worth the effort required to make it happen and is totally worth making a winter trip to Alaska. One of those is seeing the Northern Lights. I can think of a handful of experiences that just can’t be captured in a photo, video or writing.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |