No! Like any other natural phenomenon, the Northern Lights is not something that can be ordered on demand. Is there a guarantee of seeing the Northern Lights in Svalbard? He was nominated for the Nobel Prize seven times, but never won it.ĥ. Birkeland demonstrated that light was created when electrons from the sun collided with gases when the entered the earth’s atmosphere.

He began to describe the phenomenon around 1900, even thought it had already been observed for thousands of years. Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland is known as the “father of the Northern Lights” since he was the first person to explain what caused it. Who solved the mystery of the Northern Lights? The Inuits thought that the Northern Lights were the dance of the dead, while the Native Americans believed they were seeing flames under massive cauldrons where warriors boiled their enemies. The indigenous Sami people thought you could hear the Northern Lights, as indicated by the Sami name Guovssahas which means the “light you can hear”. The Vikings thought the Northern Lights were the reflections of the ghosts of virgins. Throughout history, the Northern Lights have been surrounded by myths and legend. What is the history of the Northern Lights? You should also allow several days for your visit, which improves your chances if the Northern Lights is conspicuous by its absence one evening.ģ. To ensure the most spectacular Northern Lights experience, you should avoid visiting when there's a full moon. For this reason, a lot of international Northern Lights research takes place in Svalbard and a Northern Lights observatory and EISCAT radars are located here. Svalbard is the only place on earth you can experience what we refer to as “daytime Northern Lights”. During the darkest time of the year in Svalbard in December and January, it’s possible to see the Northern Lights around the clock – even in the middle of the day. The best time is from 18:00 (6 p.m.) to midnight, while there is also a good period between 04:00 and 08:00 (4 a.m. The Northern Lights season in Svalbard is from late September to the middle of March. It may be visible in southern Norway once a month and even less frequently further south in Europe.

Your best chances of experiencing the Northern Lights are in the northern parts of Scandinavia, northern Russia, Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland and Iceland. How do you experience the Northern Lights? The Northern Lights generally occur at an altitude of 80 to 500 km above the ground. Electrically charged particles released from the sun collide with gases such as oxygen and nitrogen when they enter the earth’s atmosphere, which we see as green, yellow, red or orange light in the sky. The Northern Lights are a physical phenomenon that occurs when the solar winds are stronger than normal. This article provides information and useful tips about this fantastic natural phenomenon that includes every colour of the rainbow dancing in the sky above us. Surrounded by myths and legends, the Northern Lights provide a wonderful reason to visit Svalbard during the Polar Night.

Northern lights in norway