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I have received many questions 1, 2 concerning the best place and time of year to view the Northern Lights.
Best viewed: between Fairbanks and Barrow Alaska. Mayo and Faro, Yukon north of Whitehorse is also ideally situated for great viewing. However, because of logistics, it is a lot easier visiting (and viewing) from Fairbanks than sites further north and east. Seasonal Cloudiness:
The aurora is most frequent: during the equinoxes (22 September, 22 March). However, it can be seen to some extent almost every night at high latitudes (north of 60°N).
The 11-year sunspot cycle (which will be at maximum in 2000-2001) determines the magnitude of each display. By now, occurrences of the northern (southern) lights will be the most frequent and intense.
Fairbanks located near 65°N latitude means that strong all night twilight will interfere with viewing from late April to mid August.
My favorite time to view the aurora is in late August when a soft twilight is still visible all night, the temperatures are pleasant, and the bugs are minimal (however, cloud cover could be a major problem).
For more information on the northern lights, check out AURORA. For general photographic guidelines, or try this and this site. Photo problems and general cold weather photography links provide essential things to know when traveling to the north country.
As for the best place around Fairbanks to view the aurora, I recommend:
"taking the Parks Highway towards Anchorage and pulling just off the road on to a spur road that leads to the town of Ester (5 minutes outside of western Fairbanks). One can continue driving for another 10 miles on the Parks Highway where there are several parking overlook pullouts which offer excellent views to the north and south. The road is usually maintained and the drive shouldn't be any challenge. Another place to consider is a trip up Ester Dome Road (off Sheep Creek Road) just northwest of the university (about 5 miles away). I'd go there in the daylight to check conditions because it is dark (unlit) at night. The view on top is great with several pullouts and views to the north and south. Finally, the Steese Highway north of Fairbanks to the town of Fox offers several good views of dark skies to the north. The drive is about 15 minutes from Fairbanks proper. At the university (west ridge), there are several x-country ski trails that open to a large field that is worth visiting in the day and perhaps at night."
The following images were taken into Photoshop and "cleaned up". That means only dust and scratch removal and some color balance and contrast adjustments were made. None of these involve any more digital darkroom finesse than that. I've tried to represent the original prints as faithfully as possible.
Inspired from my photography work below, Canadian Artist, Glen Scrimshaw painted the following images of the Northern Lights
To my 1998 images.
To my 1999 images.
To my 2000 images.
Since 16 August 1999
Return to: Aurora's Northern Nights
Last updated: 13 August, 2001