Aurora borealis

One of the things that we really wanted to see in Lapland was Aurora borealis. Fortunately we were lucky and saw the beautiful green lights on our first evening after arriving in Abisko.


Whether you can see the aurora borealis or not depends on several factors. First of all you have to be pretty up north (or south) - preferably behind the polar circle. In Europe this means that you have to go to north of Sweden, Norway or Finland. You can also see the lights on southern parts of Sweden (such as Stockholm) but this is very rare.


Second you need a clear sky because the lights originate from upper atmosphere (about 80km above ground) and clouds can cover it completely thus spoil the beautiful show. This is usually not a problem in Abisko because this is the place with least clouds in Sweden.


And of course you need the right solar activity. This depends on the current state of the sun (its 12 year cycle) and also the part of the year (the angle between the earth magnetic poles and the solar winds).


We did not choose the perfect timing for our trip. September/October or March/April would be probably much better. But still it was really amazing and beautiful! For someone from central Europe this is a once in a lifetime experience.