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Chasing the Northern Lights

Meet a family of “aurora chasers.” They cross hemispheres hoping to catch nature’s most amazing light shows!

January 1, 2017
By Amy Barth
Kristin Jonsdottir Photography (Sky); Paul Hardy - Concept Stills and Motion/Getty Images (Family)

Every winter, 13-year-old Aurora Nation and her family pile into their motor home near Sortland, Norway. They are off to track down natural light shows called the northern lights. Also known as the aurora borealis [uh-ROR-uh BOR-ee-AL-is], these dazzling displays fill the night sky with swirling shades of green, blue, purple, and pink. 

Aurora Addicts

The Nation family with their motor home

For many, seeing an aurora is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But not for the Nations. They live far north in the Northern Hemisphere. (See sidebar below.) “It is one of the best places on the planet to view the northern lights,” says Aurora. Her parents love auroras so much that she is named after them! 

Auroras are colorful light displays created by electrically charged particles (tiny bits of matter) released from the sun. These particles collide with gases in Earth’s atmosphere. This causes the sky to light up above Earth’s polar regions.

Auroras are best seen when the sky is clear and dark. Daylight and electric lights in homes and stores can make auroras difficult to spot, as can snowstorms and other bad weather. That’s why the Nation family gets up super-early and checks weather reports. They drive to a dark area with clear skies. Then they start a campfire and wait. 

Babak Tafreshi/Science Photo Library/Science Source

A corona over Iceland

“Sometimes I think my family is crazy for chasing auroras,” admits Aurora. But she loves those trips, especially when her family spots a corona. That’s a special kind of aurora that is directly overhead. Coronas have rays of light that stretch from a central point, like petals on a flower.

Once the Nations saw a corona from a farm where they were staying. “That was one of the best displays ever,” says Aurora. “There was so much pink in the sky. It was really peaceful.”

Earth's Hemispheres

The word hemisphere comes from the prefix hemi-, meaning half, and the word sphere, which is a round object, like a ball or globe. Geographers divide Earth into four "half balls" or hemispheres: the Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, Western Hemisphere, and Eastern Hemisphere.

 

At the equator, Earth is divided into the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere.

 

At the prime meridian, Earth is divided into the Western Hemisphere and the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Norway is located in which two hemispheres? How about Iceland? How do you know?

2. Look at the countries where the Nation family has seen the aurora borealis. Why do you think they decided to go aurora chasing in these countries? 

3. Which country have the Nations visited that is in both the Western Hemisphere and the Eastern Hemisphere?

Chris Madeley/SCIENCE SOURCE
aurora borealis

uh-ROR-uh BOR-ee-AL-is

colorful bands of lights that sometimes can be seen in the night sky, especially near Earth’s North Pole and South Pole

 

Alaska is one of the best places to see an aurora borealis in the United States.
NASA/Science Source
atmosphere

a layer of gases that surrounds a planet

 

Earth’s atmosphere contains the oxygen people need to breathe
Yooniq Images/Alamy
polar

having to do with the North Pole or South Pole and the icy regions around them

 

Emperor penguins live on the continent of Antarctica, which is in the polar region of the Southern Hemisphere.
FUTURE LIGHT/Getty Images; Map: Jim McMahon ®
prime meridian

an imaginary line that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole and passes through Greenwich, England

 

One place you can stand on the prime meridian is at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England.
Jim McMahon/Mapman ®
hemispheres

halves of a sphere, such as the northern and southern halves of Earth as divided by the equator, or the eastern and western halves as divided by the prime meridian

 

If you live in the United States, you live in two hemispheres: the Northern Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere.
Ariadne Van Zandbergen/Getty Images; Map: Jim McMahon ®
equator

an imaginary line that is an equal distance from the North and South poles

 

One place you can stand on the equator is near the small town of Nanyuki, Kenya
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