Northern Lights in Estonia

Some eager New Year’s firework photographers discovered, that the background of their long shutter release pics were filled with the beautiful colours of the Aurora! The very first days of 2016 provided more chances to see them. This is a video of some Northern Lights of the 2015/16 night:

Although the Estonian  climate can include its share of grey overcast nights, there are always crisp frosty starry nights too with occasional Aurora Borealis. One may think this belongs to the ultimate North, but depending on suitable weather and Solar activity it may often happen in our own backyard. The trade secret is to be outdoors around midnight. Celestial signs say clearly that Estonia is a real Nordic country.

As a matter of fact years are not brothers and Solar wind may be stronger or weaker. In fatc the activity of the sun moves through a cycle of aorund elevben years.  In 2015 the sun has been at its peak of solar activity and  offered us several spectacular fireworks. April 17 was maybe the best day (night) to watch it. Another active period was in October. Estonian photographers have not been lazy and there are several beautiful albums on the internet.

Our own bird-guide Mati Kose has presented some best shots here: 

Northern Lights in Estonia, Spring 2015 / Photo: Mati Kose

Well known nature photographer Sven Zacek has shared his Aurora-shots from a night-trip to a bog here..

The best places to see northern lights in the Baltic region are in the northern parts of the Nordic countries, and the best time is around the ‘magnetic midnight’ – around a half-hour before regular midnight. They occur all year round, but due to the bright Baltic summers they are only really seen in the darker time of year, from August to April. Of course in higher latitudes the probability to see them is also much higher. Statistically, in Northern Finland, one would expect to see the Northern Lights twice in a week; in Helsinki and in Estonia it would only be perhaps twenty nights a year and in northern Germany only a couple of nights a year.

According to Kristofer Jäntti this captivating phenomenon – Northern Lights - has fed our curiosity since the very beginning of times. Obviously it has not gone unnoticed by the ancients – the earliest cave paintings in Southern France date to 30,000 years ago. They had a prominent role in the mythologies of many cultures around the Arctic Circle. In Finland the Northern Lights were believed to originate from a ‘fire fox’ that would run in the North aong the mountains so that the sparks they caused would become Northern Lights. In Estonia it was believed that gigantic whales with their water jets were the reason of the spectacular light-show.

This story has its dark side as well - namely that solar activity evokes people and nations and very often spectacular light shows coincide with crucial historic events.

It depends only on Sun activity and sheer luck, but in March and in October the odds are that Northern Lights may show up around midnight as  an additional bonus to birding.