Greenland: Aurora Borealis over Southeast Greenland

One of the main reason we came to Greenland so late in the Arctic season was to witness the miraculous displays of Aurora Borealis aka Northern Lights. To see this, you need four per-conditions – high latitude, darkness with no light pollution, clear skies, and high solar electromagnetic activity. And Greenland is almost ideal for this – high Arctic, away from civilization, high percentage of clear skies. Greenland’s proximity to the auroral oval (a ring-shaped zone around the magnetic pole) makes it an ideal location. We waited for this several nights until finally it all came together deep in the night around 2:30 AM – an absolutely stunning display that went on for over two hours with varying intensity. Awe-inspiring is an understatement! The aurora is caused by charged electrons from the sun , carried by solar wind, colliding with Earth’s upper atmosphere, where they are accelerated along Earth’s magnetic field lines toward the polar regions. When they strike gases like nitrogen and oxygen, energy is released as light, creating colorful displays – green from oxygen, purple or pink from nitrogen. And the auroras are highly dynamic, like watching a movie, as the solar wind constantly changes the energy show – curtains, arcs, spirals, and explosions, changing in intensity, color, and shape within seconds or minutes, dancing and rippling across the sky. Wow!