The Northern Lights also known as Aurora Borealis, is one of the most spectacular natural phenomena you can witness. It happens mostly above the Arctic Circle, though it can sometimes be seen as far south as France and Germany and the UK. In May 2024 we have received a lot of pictures from our Instagram followers showing Aurora appearing all around the world. Remember to follow us on instagram (@levifoxfires), we are sharing there videos of the Northern Lights when they appear.
To see Northern Lights could be a very emotional experience. It's really difficult to explain and everyone can experience them in a different way. For us, It is still really special and exciting seeing them, even though we have seen them hundreds of times over the years of living in Levi. When we see them, it is always a privilege.
When they are in the sky, we always stop what we are doing to watch them and when they are very active and colourful, Aggie can still cry from happiness to see this incredible spectacle that Mother Nature is sharing with us.
Northern Lights are very special to us
During one trip to the North, we got engaged under the Northern Lights. It was our first time seeing them and they always have special meaning for us when they appear. There is something quite magical and addictive about the Aurora and we always feel blessed when we see them. One of the reasons to leave our city life and move to Lapland was to be able to see Northern Lights often.
This was one of the first pictures of Aurora that Aggie took, since then her Aurora portfolio grown in to the thousands...
Quick facts about the Northern Lights:
Location: typically above the Arctic Circle
Season: from late August to mid-April
Optimal viewing time: usually between 10:00 pm and 2:00 am, but this can vary
Visibility: Northern Lights are not visible every night of the season
Colours: strong highly charged solar wind means more colourful Aurora
Conditions: A dark sky without light pollution is preferred but not always necessary. A clear sky without clouds is preferred but not always necessary
Remember that Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon and cannot be guaranteed. To increase your chances to see the Aurora, just be outside - we explain this in more details in "Our winter guide to Levi Lapland".
How are Northern Lights created? There are a lot of articles explaining exactly what is happening in space but let us give you a short and a very simple explanation in a way everyone will understand and remember. The life of the Aurora starts 152 million km away on the Sun. There are constant bursts of energy on the surface of the Sun called solar flares and coronal mass ejections. These bursts spew out energy and particles into space and become known as solar winds. The solar winds are full of high energy charged particles. The solar wind pulls and stretches our magnetic field at the poles pulling at them and coupling with them. Eventually Earth’s super strong magnetic field can stretch no more and springs back into place. Like an elastic band springing back, it bounces and will go back and forth a little (think of a jelly wobbling). As the magnetic field springs back it brings with it the charged particles from the sun’s solar winds. When they meet the Earth’s gases in the atmosphere. The interaction between the particles and the gases releases energy in the form of light that we know as Northern Lights.
The colours of Northern Lights
The colours depend on which atmospheric gases the charged particles from the sun interact with.
If the charged particles meet oxygen at an altitude of 400-200 km above the Earth, then we might see red Northern Lights above our heads, just look up. If they meet oxygen approximately 200-100 km above the Earth, then we can see the most common colour of Northern Lights - green. If they meet nitrogen (which happens approximately 100-80 km above the Earth) we can see on the edges of green also purple, pink or magenta. They move very fast and they appear when the solar wind is very strong.
Why they are called Fox fires?
Let's look at Finnish mythology now. In Finnish, the phenomenon of Northern Lights is called ‘Revontulet’ which means ‘Fox fires’. People in the north used to believe the Northern Lights were created by Arctic foxes running over the tundra, their fur emitting sparks into the sky as it touched the snowy ground. Also based on Finnish mythology, we called our company ‘Foxfires’. This is a snippet of an origial artwork made for us by Charile Adam at Bungalow Graphics. You can buy limited number prints, cards and more unique items with this design in our shop.
There is so much more about the Northern Lights. Use our Northern Lights guide to increase your chances of seeing the the Aurora. Our 10 years of Aurora hunting experience are poured into these pages to help you to understand the Northern Lights phenomenon and to help you to avoid common mistakes that people often make that causes them to miss the Aurora.Â
With our Northern Lights guide you will:
learn the secrets of Northern Lights hunting and increase your chances of seeing them
find out when is best to come to Lapland to see the Aurora
understand where and when they appear, what time and how long they last
discover how to search for the Northern Lights
understand if Aurora is guaranteed when you will visit Lapland
learn how to photograph them with a camera or with only a mobile phone
discover Aurora apps and what we recommend
find out our recommendation for Northern Lights tours and direct links to book them
discover 5 Aurora viewing spots in Levi accessible on foot from the villageÂ
We also give you:
5 tips to increase your chances to see the Aurora
5 examples of what to do when conditions are not good
5 common mistakes about the Aurora that cause people to miss themÂ
This guide has already helped hundreds of people to understand how to search for the Northern Lights and what to do to increase the chances of seeing them, so get your access to all our knowledge today. If you already have our Levi Lapland e-guide 2nd edition you don't need this guide as all the same information can be found there.
Happy reading
Aggie, Paul & Gooseberry
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