The Northern Light

The Northern Lights occur year-round, but are easiest to see when it is the darkest. Here in Kiruna, you have the chance of seeing the Auroras from the end of August until the beginning of April. In order to see them, the sky must be clear. The temperature is not important, but it is usually colder the clearer it is.

You are able to see the Northern Lights in central Kiruna as well. At Camp Ripan, we have the advantage of having few streetlights, enabling the details of the sky to become clearer.

The Northern Lights are created when small particles of energy from the sun are flung into space with the solar wind. When these particles reach the earth's atmosphere over the magnetic poles, a variety of auroras are created. The auroras originate 100-200 kilometers above the surface of the earth and are most visible in polar regions covering the area in oval-shaped rings. We see them as the swirling ribbons of color sweeping across the clear winter sky.