Arctic Aurora Adventures
- 13th Feb 2026
- Author: Sarah Llewellyn-Davies
69.575 degrees North, 18.643 degrees East, Straumsbukta, Tromsø, Norway.
Four women in STEM, spanning three generations, from two continents, with one shared goal - to see the aurora borealis in a solar maximum.
This is the tale of our adventurous melting pot of nature, science, education and the joys of new friendships forged under unforgettable aurora skies at the arctic circle on the cusp of polar night, in the stunning fjords of northern Norway, 16th-20th January 2026.
I'll introduce us all first:
Lucinda Offer, Education and Outreach Officer, Royal Astronomical Society. Chief Organiser and instigator of the whole show. (front left)
Gurjeet Kahlon, Astrophysicist, Business Officer at the Institute of Physics. Insta queen and chief philosopher. (front centre)
Helen Usher, Founder of Comet Chasers, currently writing her PhD thesis about improving Pro-Am Schools links in comet science. Expert astrophotographer and cracking storyteller. (back right)
Sarah Llewellyn-Davies (me), National Space Academy Regional Project Officer for the Space to Learn Project, retired teacher and space education consultant. Chef, navigator, guaranteed to lose her gloves.
It's funny how things happen.
Through other people's misfortune (nothing too serious thankfully), Lucinda's arctic adventure, meticulously planned for the new moon and the solar maximum, was falling apart. Being the go-getter she is, she soon had a new crack team together - 'just say yes' became the motto, with a new WhatsApp group set up to co-ordinate the rest of us who were frantically booking last minute flights, buying snow boots and working out the best airport to fly from. It all came together. Except for the forecast, which was dire. All four days was just so bad, with only tiny possible windows of clear sky - if we were lucky. Sigh. Never mind, it will still be fun, we said.
Before we go any further (like Norway), let's get one thing sorted. You just can't go to a place politely if you can't pronounce it properly.
Tromsø.
It's not Tromsow.
It's TRRRUMM..SAH!!
No one said Norwegian pronunciation was easy.
I was well prepared with a couple of weeks' of Duolingo Norwegian under my belt and reckoned I could confidently order tea, coffee and a large glass of white wine. Norwegians, however, could rival some of the British for their ability to speak English properly, so the effort was possibly futile. At least we won't be thirsty.
Day 1: Friday
Aurora!
We took off on a cloudy miserable day from Luton Airport, with Gurjeet a day behind us (to arrive on the Saturday morning). Lucinda and I were seated together, with Helen a row behind on the opposite side of the plane.
A young man was in the aisle seat next to me. He didn't stand a chance. Being nosy, we spotted that he was watching a video on his phone that looked like the Hadron Collider at Cern. Two minutes into the flight, the Education and Outreach(E&O) had started. An eager conversation about black holes and particle physics kicked it all off, with a beaming and now probably mentally exhausted young Italian on holiday with his mates, left properly informed about the wonders of the Universe.
As we were getting closer to the Norwegian coast, Lucinda donned her jacket, made like a 19th century photographer shielding the cabin lights, and started taking photos through the window.
We have AURORA!!
Round two began.
"I'm a geophysicist and I work for the Royal Astronomical Society" announced Lucinda, showing them her photos, then proceeded to tell a plane full of excited passengers what caused the aurora whilst they scrambled to get their own photos through the windows. I sat grinning to myself, immersed in the joy that education brings, especially when collective interest and enthusiasm abound. This is going to be an amazing trip.
The immigration officials didn't escape either. We may or may not have made the folk behind us wait for passport checks a tad longer than they should have...
Car hire sorted, the trip was underway to our gorgeous farmhouse Air B&B in at tiny town called Straumsbukta on one of the islands about 40 minutes’ drive from Tromsø, with a stop off at a supermarket for the midnight feast.
Exclaiming simply, "Look!!", Lucinda stopped the car on the roadside. We all got out excitedly to see the sky filled with dazzling ribbons of ethereal green light, rippling, shimmering, dancing, mocking our tiny insignificant forms as our host star threw out its endless plasma soup of protons and electrons (aka the solar wind) at our little rocky home, at a breathtaking velocity of around 500km/s.
Det var utrolig. Look it up. It's Norwegian, of course.
I know what you're thinking.
What makes the green aurora?
Charged particles (electrons and protons) in the Solar wind are channelled towards the magnetic poles along Earth's magnetic field lines, where they collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in our upper atmosphere. The collisions excite the atoms, causing them to release the energy as light as they return to their normal states. The glow from billions of these collisions becomes visible to the human eye, which is most sensitive to green light. This is why the green aurora appear brightest. The colours produced depend on the altitude and the gas involved: green light is emitted by oxygen atoms below 300km and red light by oxygen atoms above 300km. Nitrogen molecules give blue hues below 100km and purple above 100km.
I have heard folk saying so many times "You're not guaranteed to see them you know!". Well yes, that's where a bit of basic Astronomy comes in very handy indeed. Lucinda knowingly booked her trip to coincide with the deluxe boxed set of Astronomical Auroral Appreciation hot tips:
- Go in the solar maximum
- Go to Tromsø - it's just above the Arctic Circle and underneath the auroral oval
- Go during polar night, so maximum hours of darkness
-
Go in the New Moon (it's not visible - too close to the Sun to cause the biggest light pollution of all)
- Book a rural location(less light pollution) or a car to travel there, or both.
The Sun has approximately 11-year cycles, in which its magnetic field and activity fluctuate. We see this in the rise and fall of numbers of sunspots (in the graph below), solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). So, if you go during the solar maximum, your chances are very good indeed of not just aurora, but STUNNING aurora (weather permitting of course).
The first day was now night and day 2 was already happening. The camera equipment was set up, Helen and Lucinda set up their SeeStar telescopes, every layer of clothing was on, and we just drank it in. It kept on going, every shape, every direction and just...showing off. I am not too old or proud to get excited about stuff. This was wondrous.
Thank you, Lucinda.
We hope you enjoy the photos - the weather behaved itself (mostly) - the only bit we couldn't control!
Day 2: Saturday
Back to Tromsø
We were so tired. But nobody cared. Still buzzing from the incredible displays from the night before, we set off back to Tromsø to collect Gurjeet from the airport. We had this sense of doom, that she was coming all this way and wouldn't get to share the incredible experience that still swirled in our weary heads. But never give up hope, and in the meantime, 'enjoy ourselves' we said, positivity a given. Oh, and ignore the weather forecast.
What was so unexpected was the light at Soldagen (the return of the Sun). The end of polar night (when the Sun appears above the horizon for the first time) was on January 15th, the day before we came. The skies became light much earlier than expected - around 9am - yet sunrise was 11:17am. Sunset was 12:32 on Friday 16th, yet darkness only came about 3pm. What we were experiencing was the 'Blue Time' - essentially a very long twilight because the Sun is so close to, but not above the horizon.
After Soldagen, the length of the days increases rapidly, much more rapidly that we experience at 52-55 degrees north (where we are in the UK), as winter merges into spring. However, the real beauty of the blue time was not yet revealed due to the mist and cloud.
The fab four united, we explored the beach on Tromsø island, watching kayakers in the freezing waters and feeling the intensifying cold creeping through the air as the light quickly faded in the early afternoon, then went into pretty Tromsø city. The city centre is on the island of Tromsøya, with connected suburbs on the mainland and Kvaløyea island.
Tromsø was just beautiful. It looked like Christmas with fairy lights everywhere and lots of gift shops selling Trolls, woolly mittens, mugs and fridge magnets. Some things never change.
As soon as we had our fill of coffee and photos, we headed home after stopping for more food, including the most delicious Norwegian salmon for a next level supper on Sunday, when literally everything is shut. Early night for all, hoping for the fog to lift...
Day 3: Sunday
Snow, Sea, Scrabble and Saunas
The weather was miserable. Along with the low light levels, it gave a sense of melancholy that hung in the cold, damp air. Nothing could possibly dampen the spirits however, after Lucinda spotted a lonely wild reindeer wandering nonchalantly along the roadside! Box ticked. Happiness abounded again. Not that it ever left, not for a minute.
After a lazy morning and a delicious breakfast of Lucinda's nduja scrambled eggs on sourdough toast, it was time to explore the beach outside the farmhouse. To get there, we had to navigate sheet ice on the driveway because of all things, a 'heatwave' had disappointingly arrived overnight, just for us it seemed - it had actually been raining! It was just rude - that's not how you spell 'snowing', which is what I wanted to be writing about. Temperatures had risen from -25 to -15 to +1 degrees over a fortnight, so the rain had immediately frozen on the bitterly cold ground.
Knut, (Noot) our genial host, brought out a couple of those fabulous traditional Norwegian wooden sleds to help the proceedings but no one was getting me sitting on one of those things. Not for any money. I'll wade through three feet of icy snow instead thank you very much. Gurjeet was looking cool as a cucumber in her cool Insta poses with her fabulous body builder physique framed against the white snow. Oh, to be young again! And yes, I was the first and only one to slip and land on my well-padded bunn. No damage done.
The seashore was just lovely. By the way, I couldn't resist the inevitable paddle albeit still in my snow boots. I'm British after all, and we do like to be beside the seaside.
Back at the farmhouse, Lucinda and Gurjeet were feeling brave. Sauna fired up, swimsuits on, they headed into the garden for a snow bath, freezing snowy face-plants (good for the skin we are informed), then a sauna afterwards to warm up, whilst Helen and I downloaded photos and created aurora gifs from the Friday night. I liked the idea of the snow bath but then again... passed on this one, a bit like the sled, oh and the paddle without my snow boots... I'm turning into a bit of a wuss in my old age. Or maybe just getting a bit sensible at last? You decide.
Lucinda was busy in the kitchen - baking honey buns of all things - she had never baked bread before and decided to try it in Norway. Well, why ever not? They were fabulous and Knut and his wife were in for a treat - seemed a fair exchange for their home-made muffins and the honey they kindly provided, just because we asked.
With full bellies of salmon like-you-never-tasted-before and Knut's delicious apple and blueberry muffins for pud, we played a game of Norwegian scrabble in the toastie warm living room in front of the blazing log burner.
That was interesting. Ø became O and Æ was duly binned. I reckon I had the best word (not score) with vetoed, but Helen wiped the floor with all of us, even with Norwegian letter scores.
Early night a necessity again, Lucinda was getting us all up crazy early to get the whole transition of night into day on the next day's road trip. Like I said, Chief Organiser.
Day 4 Monday
The Road to Sommerøy and the Bath of Light
Sommerøy (pronounced Somm-ah-ray) is a picturesque traditional fishing village about 36km west of Tromsø and is famous for its white sand beaches, clear waters and stunning Arctic scenery. It has gained fame for its campaign to become a 'time-free zone' allowing residents to ignore traditional opening hours and engage in activities like swimming or painting houses at 2am during the midnight Sun. I think you would probably choose to do that just because you could.
The road to Sommarøy alone had so many photo opps to savour at every turn in the road.
The sky was clear. This was promising - would Gurjeet get to see aurora tonight? No need for nerves about driving either - the cars have metal studded tyres which ate the black ice for breakfast. The Norwegians know how to do it.
The light slowly increased and they sky became filled with a golden light fading into an increasingly intensifying blue hue as you looked higher. Silhouetted against the mountains, the glow of the still only partially risen Sun at 10:40am was a sight to behold, despite still not being visible over the mountain tops. In just 4 days, the duration of daylight had increased by a whole hour, so fast is the switch from polar night towards polar day.
Sommerøy didn't disappoint.
The scenery was breathtaking at every turn. Now the beauty of Soldagen also revealed itself thanks to the perfectly clear skies. Looking south at the horizon-skimming Sun with its intense red, orange and golden glow, bathing everything before the eyes was beauty enough, but then, in electrifying contrast, looking north revealed dreamy shades of pink and soft violet reflecting off the snow-capped mountain peaks. A photographer's dream. Less romantically, the scientific explanation of the cause of all this delicious lighting is Rayleigh scattering.
Gurjeet's earned her title of Chief Philosopher that day:
"All day, my eyes have been drinking in so much beauty that I don't know what to do with it."
She summed it up nicely. I'm sure you get the picture.
After a chilly picnic of leftovers hashed together, coffee in the hotel at the pretty harbour and some beach time, the light was fading fast again, and it was time to head home.
Excitement was building at this point however - NOAA revealed that an incoming CME, an X-class solar flare, was on the way that night!
I won't waste time with trivial details - fancy restaurant in Tromsø for the last night abruptly cancelled, full thermal kit pulled on with Knut's snowshoes a must to stay up on the ice - there was nowhere else to be but outside. Once again, we were drinking in beauty of a different kind. At about 9pm, a breathtaking auroral display began as the CME arrived, that was as bright as you see in enhanced photos from camera phones on social media.
We were right underneath it.
Following the ubiquitous green glow came the most vibrant crimson display, created from the now fiercely intense incoming solar wind (travelling at incredible speeds of 1700km/s). Just to enhance the art of the scene, the bright stars of Orion, arguably the most majestic of the constellations, pierced through the glow, just as the hunter who inspired it appeared to be kneeling on the distant mountain. Later, a much rarer purple glow appeared briefly (below the green layer), so delicate and subtle, but there nevertheless.
We marvelled at the rippling curtains of shimmering light, some exploding above from divergent points, some winding across the sky like ribbons, constantly changing, evolving - our Sun letting us know it's in charge, yet rewarding us with something so incredible that it strikes a depth of emotion that can only be understood if it is seen with your own eyes. Gurjeet was ecstatic. As were we. Perfection.
Activity quietened by 3am, so we reluctantly gave into the most blissful tiredness, what little sleep we could manage would help us through the journey home.
Day 5: Heading Home
The early journey to the airport for Gurjeet's flight rewarded us with our first glimpse of the Sun since we arrived - also a first for the Norwegians who had endured the long polar night with their customary grace. Now the snow could twinkle and glitter in the sunlight, as it reflected off the myriads of ice crystals resting everywhere, quietly waiting all this time to show off their facets.
Gurjeet had joyful hugs and goodbyes from her Norway Nanas, with our cross-generational friendships newly cemented through a wondrous shared experience that will stay with us for a lifetime.
Still, there was more to come. A visit to the Arctic Cathedral, a stunning architectural icon of Tromsø; lunch in town; some souvenir shopping and finally a reflective coffee in the library - an intriguing glass building with snow chutes down its sides.
Finally, the time came to say goodbye to beautiful Tromsø, the Arctic Circle and my truly unforgettable trip with three wonderful women, united by our passion for science and space. And I didn't lose my gloves.
Thank you, Norway, we can't wait to see you again.
Takk Norge, gleder meg til å se deg igjen.
