– The autumn so far has been absolutely fantastic. We have not seen so many northern lights before, at least not for many years, says Anders Hanssen in the tourism company Aurora Borealis Observatory in Senja. On Wednesday evening, the service in the restaurant had to be interrupted so that the guests could see the northern lights as they danced across the sky. – There was a really good atmosphere, both outside and inside the restaurant afterwards, he says. During the long autumn and winter season, the northern lights are the biggest sales item that tourism has to offer. Before the pandemic, thousands of tourists came to cities like Tromsø to experience the phenomenon. The northern lights covered almost the entire sky in Tromsø on Wednesday evening. Photo: Rune Stoltz Bertinussen / NTB – Halfway to maximum Now the prospects for more northern lights are very good. For now, the activity that creates the popular sky phenomenon is on the rise. That’s what Pål Brekke says, head of space research at the Norwegian Space Centre, and an expert on the northern lights. The sun has an activity cycle of 11 years, which also affects the strength of the northern lights. Pål Brekke is subject manager for space research at the Norwegian Space Centre. Photo: Halldor Asvall / news – We have passed the minimum in the wave valley we have been in, and are halfway to the maximum. It will be good years ahead, he says. Facts about the northern lights Photo: Jan-Morten Bjørnbakk / NTB scanpix The sun emits a stream of electrically charged particles, called the solar wind. The particles coming towards the earth are affected by the earth’s magnetic field, which directs the particles towards an oval-shaped area around each of the geomagnetic poles. Solar wind particles collide with air molecules in the upper atmosphere. Northern lights never occur at altitudes below 80 kilometers and rarely above 500 kilometers. The average for northern lights with maximum intensity is 110-200 kilometers. Most common as a phenomenon in the far north, but can also occur far south, if the conditions dictate it. The northern lights usually shine strongest a couple of hours before and a couple of hours after midnight. Source: Nordnorsk vitensenter, University of Tromsø He explains Wednesday’s spectacular northern lights with corona. Not the nasty virus that has ravaged the globe, but a hole in the sun’s warm atmosphere. – There are two processes on the sun that create powerful aurora outbursts. Solar storms and corona holes. This time it was a corona hole that was the source. See the spectacular northern lights Simen Fangel filmed in Kaldfjord outside Tromsø on Wednesday evening. Geomagnetic storm Korona holes are dark areas in the sun’s warm atmosphere. Here, the solar wind “spurts” out at twice the speed as from the rest of the solar disk, and when such holes rotate towards the center of the sun, the hole “aims” at us. – A couple of days later, the earth is hit by this “gust of wind”. The gust of wind thus causes the earth’s magnetic field to “shake” and a geomagnetic storm is created, in the same way as solar storms, explains Brekke. A “corona hole” in the sun’s warm atmosphere leads to more northern lights, which in turn creates optimism in an industry that was hit hard by the corona pandemic. Photo: SDO/NASA New records After the corona pandemic, the tourism industry needs all the legs it can get to get back on its feet. The fact that the northern lights are now “playing as a team” means a lot. – It has been a few “damn years”, to put it bluntly. The fact that we are out of the solar minimum and on our way up to the maximum is great. It would have been worse if we came out of the corona while we were in a downward curve, says Anders Hanssen at Senja. Tough corona years can now be reversed, thanks to a corona hole in the sun’s atmosphere. Photo: Privat This winter is their first proper season after the pandemic. – For our part, which has summer as low season, and this as high season, it is very good. Both the American and Asian markets are back. Australia has started booking again. We have set new booking records every month now, compared to the peak year of 2019. Want to see the Northern Lights before they die The Senja væring are so optimistic about the future that they now have plans to more than double their capacity. A zoning plan that opens up up to 65 new housing units has just been approved by the municipality. – The Northern Lights holiday is a bucket list that people want to complete. It is not their main holiday. But we can see from the booking figures that many people want to travel again, says Hanssen. Northern lights seen from Norwegian aircraft on Monday, from Svalbard to Tromsø. The pilot switched off the light in the cabin, so that the passengers could enjoy the view. Photo: Malene Åsali Jenssen Travel researcher Kari Jæger at UiT i Alta says there are also other things that will engage tourists if northern lights activity decreases in the future. – The Northern Lights are one of the factors that make people travel to Northern Norway. But at the same time, they also want to test out things like dog sledding, go on a snowmobile safari, visit Sami siida. Since you can never guarantee that there will be northern lights, this will also be a moment of excitement for the tourists who come. Many return several times in search of the northern lights, explains Jæger. Have you seen the northern lights before? – The arctic nature and just being in the element is part of what draws people here. For example, not hearing noise from the surroundings and crunching snow underfoot. It can probably be experienced as quite magical, regardless of the northern lights, she says. – It has a very strong effect on the guests. For many, it is precisely being in an element that is important, and if you can see the northern lights, it can top that experience.
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The northern lights increase in intensity due to “holes” in the sun – creating great anticipation in the travel industry – news Troms and Finnmark
