Aurora Hunting Part 3 – where to see it

This is Part 3 of my aurora-hunting info-dump, and this post is designed to help you identify the best places to view the aurora.

I’m writing this from a Scotland perspective, but most of the concepts should be applicable to anywhere in the northern hemisphere.

The further north you are, the greater the chance of aurora being visible, simply because you are closer to where it happens. From a UK perspective, Scotland is an obvious place, but I’ve seen people posting lovely photos and experiences from northern England the last year or so, and even seen reports of the aurora being visible in Norfolk.

But being close enough is only one small part of it.

You need a decent view to the north, with as little light pollution as possible. If you live on the south side of a large town or city, look for viewing spots you can access on the north side.

However, the distribution of light pollution can be a really important factor. Photo #5 was taken from SW Edinburgh with over 6 km of suburban lighting to the north. But this viewing spot had an unlit playing field immediately north of it – in my opinion this makes a massive difference – if you can get a couple of hundred meters of darkness immediately in front of you, the more distant light pollution isn’t so bad.

But on the other hand, you can see the impact that distant light pollution has in photo #4 in Part 2. Those lights on the horizon behind the chimney on the right of the image are from the town of Peterhead, 7 miles to the north. As you can see from some of the other photos, it isn’t always that bad – a bit of haze in the atmosphere makes the light pollution worse. But you can see how the aurora is far less distinct and harder to see where the light pollution is washing it out.

Light pollution can also come from cars. Car headlights are really bright nowadays, and the last time I was out aurora watching, I was being dazzled by cars driving towards me on a road that is almost 1km away. Those headlights sometimes reset your night-vision and your eyes need time to adjust to the darkness properly again.

Topography is also factor. For Scotland, the aurora is often quite close to the horizon, and it only gets higher in the sky with a very big storm. That means if you are on the southern flank of a hill, your view will be blocked. I live on the southern flank of a very small hill – it’s only an 8m height gain. But the hill is enough to stop me watching the aurora from home. If it is a particularly big storm, my camera will be able to see a hint of pink or green peaking above the houses on top of the hill, but the streetlights (and someone’s security light) on top of the hill definitely don’t help. Similarly, New Slains Castle would be a fantastic aurora viewing and photography spot if it weren’t for 6m hummocky rise directly to the north.

Photo #8. Aurora behind Slains Castle. This was a really big show. You can see columns, but this view misses all the action at the bottom of the arc. Compare with Photo #1, which was taken on the same evening

Compare Photo #11, taken at Slains Castle, with Photo #1, taken the same night, but from a viewpoint just 5m higher and with a flatter topography from the north. You can see that the view from the castle is missing all the action at the bottom of the aurora, including the arc shape and any curtains that are swirling around.

In my opinion, the optimum viewing location is looking north over the sea. Some of the best photos I’ve seen were taken from the Moray Coast, northern Aberdeenshire. The north coast of Caithness and Sutherland is another obvious choice if you are in the area or happy to add another 3 hours drive north. Many of the north facing beaches of the west coast or the Hebridean islands are also a good bet.

If you are planning a trip with aurora hunting in mind, it might be worth considering the weather too. For Scotland, the west coast tends to be cloudier, wetter, and windier, thanks to the Gulf Stream, while the east coast gets a lot more clear weather (but hey, this is Scotland – it gets it’s fair share of bad weather). I’ve not looked into how El Nino and La Nina conditions influence this, but if I were planning a trip specifically for aurora hunting, I would probably aim for the east to maximise the chances of clear weather (and hope I don’t invoke sods law and bring thick cloud to the east while the west has clear skies).

Next up: When to see the aurora