Reykjavík Grapevine - 03.02.2012, Blaðsíða 27

27
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 2 — 2012
you know those pictures you see of the
Northern Lights? The ones where they engulf
the night sky and the hues of green and red
are really intense...you know they're not ex-
actly accurate, right?
Of course it's the Northern Lights you're seeing
in the photographs, but camera trickery is afoot!
A bit like touching up the photo of a model, tech-
niques are used to make the lights appear even
more spectacular. The pictures are often ‘hyper-
real.’ The lights are still pretty spectacular, but you
need to know this information before you set off
on your big adventure in search of them. You're
not necessarily going to see what the pictures
show you.
Our guide Snorri Valsson makes sure to inform
us of this fact as we embark from the BSÍ bus
terminal. Snorri and our driver Guðjón Bogason
will be aiding and abetting our hunt this evening.
Another thing you need to know is that the lights
don't come out just because you decided you
wanted to see them. They're no dancing monkey.
But tonight holds the promise of the largest solar
storm in seven years so we should be in for some-
thing spectacular!
The reason for this is that the lights are caused
by the Sun emitting charged particles into space.
When they reach Earth, they head towards the
poles because the poles are magnetic. For this
reason there are Northern (Aurora Borealis) and
Southern (Aurora Australis) Lights. When they’re
in the Earth’s atmosphere (in the Auroral zone to
be precise), these charged particles bash into
oxygen and nitrogen particles in the air, which
creates green (oxygen reaction) and red (nitrogen
reaction) light.
FIRST CONTACT
A solar storm means lots of charged particles,
which means lots of Northern Light activity. This
explains why there are five coaches full of people
on the tour tonight. However, Iceland is currently
being battered by storms. And with storms come
clouds, the sworn enemy of any Northern Lights
hunter. Snorri tells us that we will be heading to
the hopefully cloud free Reykjanes peninsula,
close to the international airport in Keflavík.
Thirty minutes down route 41 (the main arte-
rial road between Reykjavík and Keflavík), we stop
and Snorri jumps out to take a better peak at the
night. “We need to head west,” he says and with
that we’re off, Guðjón’s eyes on the road and Snor-
ri’s eyes fixed firmly on the sky.
We’re now off route 41 and taking our chanc-
es on some less well lit roads... You don’t want
pesky man-made light when you’re searching for
the Northern Lights. Then murmurs start to pick
up, heads peer skyward and eyes strain through
coach windows—we have first contact.
I WAS THERE AND HERE’S THE PROOF
Piling out of the coach, the throng assembles and
aims their cameras towards the sky. No comment.
I head closer to the lights and watch them undu-
late about the atmosphere. It seems like we’ve hit
the sweet spot and we get a good twenty minutes
worth of action. But minutes later the lights begin
to fade. The clouds are foiling us.
Snorri takes this opportunity to get us all back
into the coach and we head towards the pictur-
esque village of Hvalsnes—a prime Northern
Lights viewpoint that also happens to appear in
the film ‘Mýrin’ (“Jar City”).
As we approach town, we get a better view of
the column of light streaking across the sky. It ap-
pears from behind the church and houses of Hval-
snes, and I crane my neck back to follow its route.
Quickly giving up on that approach I spin around
only to see the column disappearing behind the
clouds.
The horizon catches my eyes as man-made
light makes its attempt to vie for attention. A far
off town obscured by hills throws up its lights
and they bounce off the clouds that cover it from
above. It looks as though the horizon is on fire.
Good, but no dice... I spin back around and keep
my eye on the Northern Lights until they fade from
view.
NO DICE
The clouds have closed in again and as we all look
hopefully to the sky, catching only glimmers of
green light, a 4x4 arrives on the scene. It’s a local
on his way to destination unknown and he needs
to get by our coach. As he attempts to squeeze
past, his 4x4 slides off the road. Disaster. Like
a turtle on its back the guy needs help. Snorri,
Guðjón and some of our group (myself included)
give him a push back on to the road. It’s a tense
few minutes, but real disaster is averted!
That brief bit of excitement out of the way, we
go back to searching the sky for lights, but a few
glimpses aside, we have no dice. It’s getting late
so Snorri hustles us back into the warmth of the
bus and we make our way back to our hotels and
homes. Lights were seen, japes were had and a
little bit of excitement even when the lights were
hidden, but in the end we were mostly foiled by the
clouds.
Light A Pyre In The Sky
The hunt for green ember
Northern Light trip was provided by Reykjavík Excursions.
You can book tour at www.re.is or call +354-5805400
Always best price online.
Various online-offers to all Air Iceland's destinations.
www.airiceland.is
websales@airiceland.is / tel. +354 570 3030 Contact Air Iceland or
travel agent for reservation.
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