To cut to the chase: I have not yet viewed the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights; however there is supposed to be a good chance for viewing over the next two evenings. On my flight in, some people did see them from our plane, but as luck would have it I was seated on the "wrong" side of the plane. (In the future I will probably sit on the north facing side of the plane for my nighttime Alaska flights)
Aurora Borealis north of Fairbanks, Alaska. Photo by Tim Spuck (PolarTREC 2012), Courtesy of ARCUS
One of my life goals, adopted from on of my mom's Bucket List items, is to see the northern lights. When I learned I would be going to Fairbanks in the winter I was giddy with the potential to view the dancing light show. I checked the forecast ahead of time and wanted to better understand my likelihood of seeing them. In the process I have compiled a number of sites that you may find useful if you also have the same dream of seeing the aurora.
Links to Aurora Sites
Check out this site for an explanation of what causes the aurora. What causes the aurora
If you happen to be in the Fairbanks area this site allows for a real time notification of when the lights are dancing in the sky. Aurora Borealis Notifications
This site from the geophysical institue provides you with a forecast for expected or potential shows to correspond with a map. Aurora Forecast
If you want to check out the show, even from afar, you can find a live webcam to see if you need to actually bundle up and go outside, or book a trip. You may also get to see sled dogs if you look during the daytime. If you scroll down the page there are all kinds of diagrams and predictions of solar winds etc. Webcam
Update
I never ended up getting the opportunity to view the Aurora. Snow, timing and some inactive nights resulted in a no show for me. I returned home last night and checked my Aurora cams one more time and sure enough there was a fantastic show going on, just left a few hours too soon! While I won't be able to see them this summer due to sunlight all day I will certainly be on the hunt in future travels!
I did however have many other wonderful adventures. Stay tuned to hear about learning to mush sled dogs, as well as much more about the upcoming expedition!
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