Frequently asked questions

_Elsa_

‘Is wildlife affected by the Northern Lights?

Dogs will often look at the sky and bark during an auroral display, which suggests that other animals are also aware of them. Although we can’t be certain, it is well documented that there are things which animals can sense that humans can’t. It’s possible that some animals may be able to sense the natural disturbance caused by an active aurora.

Do the Northern Lights make a sound?

There are records of people who live under the Northern Lights, particularly Inuit communities, who claim they have heard the aurora make a sound. Scientifically, it doesn’t seem feasible as sound doesn’t travel at the same speed as light. The aurora occurs 100 km up in the sky so anything making a sound would need to be propagating at the speed of light; otherwise, it would occur so long after the event that you wouldn’t connect the two. Audio recordings of the Northern Lights have been attempted but to date, these haven’t picked anything up. However, nothing in science is impossible. There are theories that a form of electrical discharge from the Northern Lights could produce sound audible to humans but this has yet to be proven.  

Does moonlight affect the Northern Lights?

It depends on how intense the auroral display is. Moonlight will affect visibility if the aurora is faint – bright moonlight will make it harder to see or not visible at all, if you want to see how a full display develops, it’s best to go around the time of the new moon.

However, if there is a bright aurora, you will even be able to see it in full moonlight.

Are the Northern Lights and the Southern Lights the same?

The Northern Lights and the Southern Lights are mirror images of each other. During the summer in the Arctic Circle, when the Northern Lights aren’t visible, it is winter in Antarctica so the Aurora Australis will be visible, and vice versa. The Northern Lights are more popular with tourists because it is more accessible, more hospitable and there is more to see and do. During winter, the Antarctic continent becomes surrounded with thick, floating pack ice, making it almost impossible to get there. In contrast, the Norwegian coast, Alaska, northern Canada, Southern Greenland, Iceland, and the far north of Scandinavia and Russia are all populated areas with plenty of opportunities for tourists wishing to experience the Northern Lights. 

Are the Northern Lights harmful to humans in any way?

The Northern Lights occur so high up in the atmosphere that they don’t pose any threat to people watching them from the ground. The aurora itself is not harmful to humans but the electrically charged particles produced could have some potentially negative effects to infrastructure and technology. The particles produce an electrical current that reaches the ground. In very extreme circumstances, this could affect electric power lines, oil and gas pipelines, computer networks and iCloud systems. There could also be a risk to aeroplanes flying at very high altitudes. However, very few aircraft fly high enough, and any aircraft that did, wouldn’t be there long enough for there to be any danger.’ (Source) 

Let’s continue - More FAQs

Start at the beginning – Tiffi and her friends learn all about the Northern Lights