has anyone here taken a trip to see the aurora borealis?
i need some tips on planning my trip for next year. i will be going to alaska to see them. also im not really on a budget, im willing to save up enough for a good experience but nothing to fancy.
>>1154663
>has anyone here taken a trip to see the aurora borealis?
Yeah, went to Iceland with that in mind. Spent a week there, really enjoyed it, but had cloudy nights until the very last night we were there, then got to see a decent display.
Some of the rural hotels will agree to wake you up if a display starts, which may be true elsewhere, and there are websites that track when and where a display is likely.
Best tip I have is, if you want to take pictures, make sure you got a camera that will do well in low light and has the ability to do long exposures -- the super-zoom I had did not do either. (Pic related, does not do it justice at all) Maybe invest in a mono-pod or tripod.
Oh, and you want a dark sky -- get away from cities, and plan your trip for as close to the new moon as you can. Full moon washes out the sky something terrible.
Probably do not have to mention that during the summer, when there is little or no night at northern latitudes, may not be your best bet...
>>1154663
I have never traveled to see them ,but I have seen them many many times since I live in northern sweden. It's beautiful but I don't understand why you would travel to see it? Don't get your expectations up too much.
Also every season there is guided groups going around several weeks to find them here but they don't always see them... I don't see them every year.
But If you come to northern Sweden the landscape is more beautiful then the lights imo! :D
>>1154992
i saw a movie called brother bear when i was a kid and since then the aurora borealis has been the #1 destination in my bucket list. i just think that lights like that in the sky are something you would only find in alien planets, and then they make you realize that we are that alien planet
>>1154663
>not really on a budget
Oh great! Just buy a private jet and take that to the private Alaskan island you've purchased then!
>>1154952
>Yeah, went to Iceland with that in mind. Spent a week there, really enjoyed it, but had cloudy nights until the very last night we were there, then got to see a decent display.
I saw mine in Budir Iceland, and it was on the 3rd floor on a lovely rooftop deck with lounge chairs, and later in bed, with a skylight over my bed. They started around 930, mid September. All hotels know the website to check the prediction for activity. Then, the rest is the weather/clouds.
It was brutally windy and quite cold. But, nothing beat the horizon to horizon display. As far as camera recommendations, nothing is as great as the video. Pictures don't do the actual movement that you can see in the shifting show. My show was green, a bit of pink, and was like a rotating dna helix, which morphed into a waterfall or rain shower, and then back to the twisting helix thing. Sooo gorgeous.
Protip: Have some bottle of favorite liqueur to sip, and in the case of Iceland, get it duty free.