To experience the Northern Lights as best as possible, we made a small path, going from our western base camp to a wide, frozen swamp. While we are waiting for the show to begin, we start a little bonfire and roast some sausages or marshmallows.
To make sure we're there at the right time, we'll use the Aurora Forecast application. It gives us the actual status and strength of the magnetic and solar activity in the air. It could be that we only go to the swamp once, but if the odds are in our favour, we'll be there every night!
The swamp and the path going there are snowed in every night so it's definitely recommended to always put on all your thermal clothes and shoes before you go out. Because the spectacle can start a bit later then promised or it lasts longer than expected, you should dress warm enough. Nobody wants to leave the theatre in the middle of the show and miss out on the grand finale.
The northern lights are the result of a combustion of electric charged particles, sent out from the sun and pulled towards our poles by the magnetic fields around them (oh yes, there's also something like southern lights) and oxygen atoms. These collisions generate energy that becomes green light in the sky.