Northern lights

The Arctic in winter is the harsh beauty of snow–covered nature, the red-green iridescence of the northern lights, frost and a long, depressing polar night.

We see the aurora when the solar wind stream reaches the Earth's magnetic field and collides with oxygen atoms in the atmosphere. The aurora can be both at the North and South Poles.

My trip to the Murmansk region in search of the northern or, scientifically speaking, the aurora borealis fell on New Year's holidays, so it turned out to be short, but dynamic. I was preparing for it in advance: I got a set of thermal underwear, a warm jacket, insulated boots and mittens. The North offers a lot of winter outdoor entertainment, I recommend not to save on equipment.

This is what the day looks like on a polar night

Through social networks, in advance or upon arrival in Murmansk, you can find many offers for tours beyond the Northern Lights, where almost every first guide sells them. Armed with Internet sources monitoring the solar disturbance, they easily find locations in the Murmansk region where it is possible to observe Aurora Borealis on a particular night. However, there is no guarantee that the radiance will appear exactly on the day when you will be waiting for it).

Therefore, it is better to plan a trip for several days.
After a control call from the organizer confirming that the departure would take place, we were taken right from the entrance, "loaded" into a bus by a group and taken outside the city and artificial lighting sources. All the organizers are armed with simple photographic equipment on a tripod and are ready to take photos for free against the background of heavenly "spills" for your stories on social networks at observation stops. If your phone is equipped with a super-sensitive camera, then you will be able to capture these spills.

For me, this trip was the fulfillment of my dream – I saw the Northern lights in all its glory – with red-green-purple waves rolling from one side of the sky to the other. For me personally, it is a miracle of nature. What do you think?)