Aurora Borealis

Iceland is well known for being able to see the Northern Lights. They are natural light displays in the sky, usually observed at night, within the Northern hemisphere. They illuminate the sky with a greenish glow or sometimes a faint red, and appear to dance. The aurora borealis most often occurs from September to October and from March to April. Hundreds of thousands people come to Iceland every year in the hope to see the Lights.

Now for the technical bit…The Aurora is produced by the collision of charged particles between the Earths magnetic field, mostly protons and electrons, and the atoms and molecules of the Earth´s upper atmosphere. When the trapped magnetic field of the solar wind is in the right position it connects with Earth’s magnetic field, and solar particles enter the magnetosphere and are swept to the magneto tail. Further magnetic reconnection accelerates the particles towards Earth.

Very complicated! Basically….pretty lights appear in the sky, due to the solar winds and the Earths atmosphere colliding. It is truly an amazing thing. Since I have been here, I have seen them, properly, twice. The second time they were very bright, moving fast and had flashes of red. They are completely awe inspiring; I could watch them for hours.

This is a picture I took March 2009