The Northern Light Hunt!

If you know me at all, you know that I've been dying to see the Northern Lights ever since I moved to Norway nearly 6 years ago. But no! It's very rare to get them as far south as Bergen (60 degrees latitude) and when they DO get this far south, it's cloudy. I finally plopped down my money for a flight to Tromsø, at 70 degrees latitude, almost at the top of Norway, for March 1st weekend. I picked that weekend because it was a new moon so the sky would be dark. If it was clear. If there was any solar activity in the couple of days beforehand. If, if, if! My stomach was actually in knots about the whole trip. The forecast was for clouds, and the sun had a great event - too many days in advance.

But I practiced. I learned to quickly put the tripod up and attach the camera. I learned how to set the ISO and exposure and all for Northern Lights. I learned how to use the wireless remote so as not to jiggle the camera while pushing the button.

The cockpit crew on the way in said that we had strong Northern Lights out both sides of the window. I couldn't see them. They also told us that the sky was clear! So after checking in, I strapped on my ice spikes and took my tripod out and... didn't see more than a very faint green stripe overhead. I had two nights, though. This was Friday, and I had booked a tour for Saturday night to go out where it was dark.

Saturday, I walked all over town, even across the 1000+ meter bridge over to the Ice Cathedral and then up to the base of the gondola up the mountain.

Market center

Cool library, huh?

Mack's brewery - and the British Embassy! I bought some Northern Lights beer and a glass.

Ice Cathedral from the bridge. 

Tromsø from the top of the mountain. looking across to Whale Island (Kvaløya)

I took the bus back to the airport hotel and gave my legs a rest for a few minutes, ate a Skrei (special seasonal cod) dinner, and then took the bus back downtown for The Northern Lights Hunters tour. While waiting in the parking lot, I got to practice with my tripod. Is this a wonderful shot? No wind, so the reflections are like mirrors. That's the Ice Cathedral in the middle.

Tromsø's iconic church

The tour was 15 people in a minivan. The driver was a Norwegian photographer, the guide was Scottish, and I heard Italian, German and one other language. We had 4-1/2 hours to drive around looking for clear skies and dancing lights. By some miracle, the clouds had cleared away in the afternoon, so there was hope! We drove around the south side of Kvaløya. Within a half hour, someone interrupted the guide with "There's something out the left!" Then it was also out the right! We drove to a safe parking spot near Tysnes and all piled out with our cameras and tripods. The lights were a beautiful green band veiling the Big Dipper. At one point, Cassiopeia was veiled, too. We made out Orion and could even see the Pleiades!

The Big Dipper - veiled

My camera worked! But picked up more red than we could see with our naked eyes.

 I was in heaven! The lights kept slowly changing, getting brighter and more distinct, or gauzier. We moved on after an hour or so to a new spot. While there, we drank hot cocoa and ate carrot cake (my idea of a good time!). I had to tuck my camera battery in my shirt to warm up. It was "full" when warm, "empty" when out for a while. I couldn't find my spare battery. It worked out for the best, because the lights started dancing! And a shooting star went right through them while we were looking straight that way!

You can see why they used to think the lights came from the Earth.

Terje, our driver, got us all together for a group shot.

While we were all grouping together, a couple had disappeared. They were in the van -- getting engaged! Is that romantic? As we packed up to leave, the whole sky was covered with a faint green blanket. Ingress Enlightened :-)

So tomorrow, I'll do my geek thing and fill you in on the Northern Lights. What happened in 1859? Are the lights omens of famine, or are they dancing virgins? And I'll add more pictures.