The Northern lights happen all day long!

The Northern lights are a very special thing. It is a faint light that can only be seen when the sky is darker than the light they give, but they can be present without being visible.

It all starts on the sun. Gigantic eruptions take place in which throw ions in all directions. When these ions come close to Earth few days later. the Earth's magnetic field sways them away around the planet but some manage to touch the atmosphere. When an ion hits an atom, it gains energy and releases it in the form of light. Green light from the oxygen and blue or red light from nitrogen.

Untill mid April the nights in Iceland are still quite dark but only for a few hours. During these hours it is sometimes possible to see the beautiful colorful Northern lights.

From April 9th 2026

Fun fact

The sun rotates around it self in about 25 Earth days but only around the equator. The northern and southern regions rotate a little bit slower. This affects the magnetic field on the sun in a way that its strength follows an eleven year cycle.

When the field is strong, the ions don't escape the sun resulting in less Northern lights activity on Earth.