Norðurljós um helgina

We had good weather at the weekend and the last few days we had the Northern Lights four nights in a row. The northern lights were particularly beautiful on Saturday evening.

My husband took this photo of me on Saturday evening. We were actually tired and wanted to go to bed, but just to be on the safe side, my husband took one last look at the terrace and saw how wonderfully the northern lights were dancing above us. So let's get out for a moment...

Here in the picture I'm just standing there, looking at the moving images in the sky above me and staring and marveling. And I'm happy. Like Bolle. And I think that's exactly what this picture expresses. I love this photo of myself!

What are Northern Lights?

Northern lights (Aurora borealis) occur when solar winds penetrate the atmosphere, i.e. electrically charged particles from the sun hit the earth's atmosphere above the earth's poles, creating this very special glow in the sky.

With the human eye, weak northern lights can often only be seen whitish-gray, but as the intensity increases the color actually increases and I, like many other people, see the northern lights in green and sometimes even in magenta tones.

I once tried to visually show how a camera perceives the northern lights and how I see them with the naked eye, here using the northern lights, which are not so strong. I took the photo on Sunday evening. I saw the Northern Lights clearly with the naked eye, but more as a white-greyish veil with a very slight green cast. On the camera, however, the bright green was much more impressive.

The Kp index

The Kp index is a planetary indicator and also serves as an indicator of possible northern light phenomena. The numbers refer to geomagnetic activity. The lower the Kp index, the weaker the activity is likely to be. The higher the Kp index, the more intense the auroral activity (movement and formation) and also the further south the northern lights are likely to be. The Kp index is represented in whole numbers and ranges from 0 to 9.

To see the Northern Lights, it must not be too cloudy. In addition, the environment should be as dark as possible. Full moon nights are therefore not ideal if you are hoping for the Northern Lights.

However, a high Kp index is no guarantee that you will actually see the northern lights. Even with a Kp index of 6 (i.e. relatively high) and a starry sky, I didn't see any northern lights. However, with a Kp index of 2 (pretty low), I have seen beautiful northern lights.

Saturday evening, Kp index at 3

On Saturday evening the Kp index was only 3, so it wasn't actually particularly high - but the Northern Lights were very intense, bright and dancing quickly and in wild formations across the sky.

Here seen from our terrace...

...and the view of the neighboring house...

...as well as straight into the sky.

Our kids thought there was something “Harry Potter-esque” about it and “Wow, the Dark Mark has been spotted over Iceland!” Yes, I know what you mean, I can understand the comparison with the scene in the film "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" when the dark mark of the evil wizard Voldemort is summoned in shades of green in the night sky over the wizarding world...

But even without a magician, the northern lights are often simply magical!

It was beautiful and I enjoyed it so much!

On Sunday morning the Northern Lights were no longer visible. Thanks to the moonlight (there was a full moon on February 12th) it was already pretty light at half past five. After taking the photo I went back to bed...

[Translated from here.]