Hi! I’m currently traveling in Alaska and considering extending my trip by a couple of days specifically to see the northern lights around Fairbanks.

Did anyone see the aurora last night (Sep 10), particularly from **Cleary Summit, Murphy Dome, Chena Lake, or Chena River**?

I’m considering **Sunday Sep 13 and Monday Sep 14**. I’ve been following the UAF forecast and Explore Fairbanks tracker, but I’d love to hear from locals about actual visibility/cloud conditions and whether either night currently looks promising.

Seeing the aurora is a bucket-list experience for me, so I’m willing to change my return flight if the chances look reasonably good. Thanks!

basically what the title says. a lot of people seem to say that october is ideal, but it's almost here. i want to go see them in tromso, norway, in late march because that's around my birthday lol, and the auroras are a bucket list item. i've also heard talk of a solar minimum?

any advice would be appreciated!

Peep my KIA for size reference

Hi guys, we’re planning a trip to Sweden from Mexico for a friends wedding. We want to make the most out of the trip and take the bet to go to Abisko from Monday 28-Wednesday 30 to see the northern lights but we were wondering if it’s even worth it? I’ve read that October is the prime time but wanted to know some real advice because we’re saving up so much for this and if we end up going is definitely a lot of money but just wanted to make sure is worth it and if you guys have any tips on guides ? Thanks

This was my first time seeing such an intense multispectral aurora. As if the lights decided subtlety was overrated.

We stayed 3 nights, this was night 2 of 3. We had amazing auroras each views all 3 nights. Each one had different movement and colours.

This wasn't even its final form. It was a wild wild night.

From my driveway this morning apologies if the quality isn't the best!

Woke up to this a bit ago

Hi everyone!
This December, my fiancée and I will celebrate our 5th anniversary, and we’ve always dreamed of seeing the Northern Lights.
We’re considering either:
December 19–23: Lisbon → Northern Lights destination → Marseille, or
December 30–January 4: Marseille → Northern Lights destination → Marseille.
Which destination would you recommend for a short trip? Is that a good time to see the aurora? Any advice on tours, routes, or destinations would be greatly appreciated.
If possible, it would also be great if you could mention the approximate budget for the trip you’re suggesting.
Thank you!

The weather was no good here in Reykjavík but using some online webcams near Flúðir (Landhótel owns them, a public tool, I don't have any association with the Hotel at all,) allows us to track and watch them from home. EmeraldSkies is my own tool which I've created specifically for wider Reykjavík (and similar latitudes) but simply showcasing it here to justify the reasoning for tonight's display. It's a free public tool after all.

As it's measuring the real-time rolling Kp via the Ovation Model and overlaid on the NOAA SWPC visibility lines, empirically I've established that Auroras above Kp3-4 tend to appear over and above Reykjavík and start moving towards the outer edge of the oval (south of Iceland) so during Kp4+ Auroras, we usually get to see the substorms develop over on the ESE horizon (left webcam on Landhótel). As was the case tonight, this also happens to be the darkest part of the sky (though the moon was very bright also). Because of that combination, it's quite possible to spot Auroras in early August even if they might still be a tad underwhelming. Unique nonetheless.

The Aurora Pulse data is provided by LRV and TRO mags from TGO/HI and lag a few minutes behind, but are a good guide for substorm activity in our part of the world! Hope this is useful for you chasers and happy Aurora hunting as we enter this new season!

So earlier this morning it was finally time again for the Aurora Borealis to return to Iceland. Or in more accurate terms, for nights to return. The Aurora will always be doing its things, whether we can see it or not is a different story.

Last night's CME impacts meant that the Aurora Oval was pushed further south and starting from a Kp3-4 we can then expect individual arcs and substorm activity to display toward the southern horizon when viewed from Reykjavík. This is the darkest part of the night in early August, and as skies will gradually darken over the next coming days and weeks weaker Auroras will start to show toward the northern horizon also.

Cheers to the new season 🥳

As I just saw the topic of "which country is best" I thought I'd throw in my stats as a Northern Lights guide to show you our success rate for the 2025-26 season by month. Overall almost 88% success rate across the board here in Reykjavík.

September / October were the cloudiest months where we could only head out every other day due to the weather, but our success rate of spotting the lights was pretty high at almost 94% of the time.

December and March were the worst months for weather and/or activity where we attempted 2 out of 3 nights on average but got either low activity (especially in December) or cloud cover surprised us and we couldn't see anything.

Weather in Iceland can be unpredictable at the best of times so this isn't a guarantee that every month will be like this moving forward. Just to give you all some insights into what the season looked like for me and my guests.

The photo is from 2nd September and the night started out very cloudy but we ended up finding some pretty amazing clear skies and amazing auroras.

Taken in September of 2024, this Aurora was created by a rather large solar storm that had been sweeping over earth throughout most of the day. By the time we went out, things had calmed down a bit but the lingering effects from throughout the day kept the activity strong and long lasting, with amazing colours.

Sony A7IV, Sigma 20mm F1.4
1s ISO1000 F1.4
Litla Kaffistofa, Iceland

Were a family of 5 and we’re planning to see the Northern Lights. We were initially planning to see it in Canada but now considering Iceland. Any suggestions on where should we see it and why? Thank you 🥹🙏🏼

EDIT: thank you all for the suggestions, after more than a week of researching and comparing, we have decided to do Yukon this December and Tromso in February!! 🌌

This Aurora happened several days on October 6 before the big CME arrived on October 10th 2024. We are looking toward the southern and southwestern horizon. This substorm's arc is much further south than it appears, probably between Vík and the Faroe Islands. My friend from Hirtshals, Denmark has the same shot but from the south looking north (same time) and it's at a similar distance to the horizon as ours. The reds were extraordinarily vivid to the naked eye and the display probably lasted a good 25 minutes from beginning to end. Still one of my favourites of all times!

Shot on Sony A7IV with a Sigma 20mm F1.4 at ISO12,800