The main part of the recent itinerary to most of the Nordic countries was to view the northern lights in Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Iceland, as I had never personally witnessed this phenomenon before the trip — but Aurora Borealis might not have appeared due to weather and other factors.
Northern Lights in Sweden. Aurora Borealis.
The first two nights of this trip were spent at Aurora Pyramids in Köngäs in Finland, at which each cabin had a large glass pyramid specifically for the purpose of viewing the northern lights from the comfort of being warm inside — and the gamble paid off in multiple ways handsomely, as I was able to see an incredibly spectacular display of the northern lights for a fraction of the cost of lodging.
Elated that the main objective of this trip was satisfied, I decided after 11:00 in the evening to step outside and check out the sky while staying overnight in Kiruna, which is located in the Swedish Lapland…
…and sure enough, I was not disappointed: Aurora Borealis decided to grace us with its appearance.
Look north? Forget that once again for the moment. These northern lights were almost in every direction — including directly overhead — and were they putting on a spectacular celestial show that these photographs do not do justice.
Tinges of pink and purple and even blue and yellow occasionally joined the predominant green.
Once again, I was mesmerized and in awe, as auroras are the result of disturbances in the magnetosphere of the Earth that are caused by the solar wind. As with snowflakes, no two aurora sightings are ever exactly the same.
Although I certainly enjoyed this sighting of the Aurora Borealis, I was spoiled, as I thought that it was not comparable to the one I saw in Finland. This celestial show faded and ended rather abruptly.
Final Boarding Call
All I can say is that the money, effort, time, and energy to see the northern lights were all very well spent. Wow.
The best part is that because I saw Aurora Borealis on the first night of my trip, I was under no pressure to do everything I could to see them during the remainder of the trip — and that was fortunate, because weather and other conditions were not conducive to seeing the northern lights most of the other times during the trip…
…except for this time, which was simply icing on the cake — so to speak — or gravy or some other clichéd food analogy.
Some people say that sightings of Aurora Borealis are not as exciting in person as they are in photographs. That is true, to an extent — but the colors were definitely still vivid in person and not merely gray as some people claim.
Perhaps I was just lucky — twice…
All photographs ©2024 by Brian Cohen.
