The magical northern lights

People from all over the world travel to the north for a chance to experience the northern lights with their own eyes. For us who live here, it is everyday food, but no less fascinating for that. After an awesome aurora night, social media is filled with images of the fantastic celestial phenomenon.

One moment it's there and the next it's gone. This makes the northern lights unpredictable and extra mysterious. Because surely it is both exciting and magical?

The Northern Lights have always fueled our imaginations and created myths and stories. In the past, people in cultures around the world believed that the Northern Lights were the spirits of the dead that floated across the night sky. Then it was important to show respect and not make noise. If you did, things could go wrong.

The northern lights are formed by the sun
With the help of science, we now know exactly what the northern lights are and don't need to be afraid anymore. The aurora borealis occurs when charged particles from the sun collide with the earth's atmosphere. Energy is released and manifests itself in different colors; from white, yellow and green to red, violet and blue. The different colors depend on the chemical composition of the atmosphere and at what height the sun's particles collide with molecules and atoms out there.

The energy veils occur at the poles where the Earth's magnetism attracts the solar wind. What we call the northern lights are called the southern lights in Antarctica. The glow is formed all year round and really has nothing to do with cold and winter. But we need dark skies and clear weather for us to see it. Therefore, we associate the northern lights with the cold, dark season.

Norrland's nature inspires
To discover the northern lights, it is good to have as little light interference as possible, for example from street lights or illuminated buildings. The best time to see the northern lights is in the fall before the snow comes, because white on the ground reflects light and makes night vision worse.

Norrland's powerful nature and the magical northern lights have inspired many of our talented craftsmen here at Shop in Lapland. In our webshop there are, for example, Northern lights heart and several other beautiful pieces of jewelery and beautiful utility items, genuine and well-made handicrafts from the north. To our webshop >>