The Northern Lights are one of my favourite subjects, but their appearing from night to night is unpredictable. These were taken in Iceland at the Hotel Ranga, an excellent spot for viewing them thanks to a microclimate that tends to keep some of the notorious Icelandic cloud at bay. But not all. If you're going to give it a try, the best time is October to March (when it's dark most of the time). They can appear at any time, but between 10pm and 3am seems to be favourite. The night needs to be cold and clear. I've found that you get a sighting about 1 night out of every 4, so you're best to stay for longer than a weekend to stand a good chance of seeing them. However, that's not exactly a proven statistic. You might find that they appear for 3 nights in a row, and then do nothing for a fortnight. It's a bit of a lottery. But worth it. They are profoundly jaw dropping. The Aurora peaks and troughs in a roughly 11 year cycle. So it should become more impressive over the next year, and reach its peak in 2012.
The Hotel Ranga is a homely sort of place managed by Bjorn, an Iceland Aurora expert, who goes by the alter ego of Borealis Bob. I love staying there. You can sit in an outdoor hot tub with snow all round you and watch the lights. And it's only a few kilometres from the volcano. When it's erupting, the hotel runs helicopter flights over the crater. Nice.
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