This is perhaps the best side of polar winters. At the ends of the planet, the aurora borealis delight the inhabitants of these regions every year – plunged into darkness most of the winter season. These green, pink or bluish glows can be seen in Iceland, Scandinavia, but also on the other side of the Atlantic, in Greenland, northern Canada and Alaska, in particular.
Thanks to cameras installed not far from the North Pole, scientists and enthusiasts offer the rest of the world to enjoy this natural and unpredictable spectacle, caused by the interaction between particles that the sun sends into space, the magnetic field of the Earth, and our atmosphere.
No need to pack your suitcase or put on your furry boots, franceinfo offers you a world tour of these webcams accessible for free.
In Canada, the high-definition feed from the AuroraMax observatory
The Canadian Space Agency has installed an ultra-wide-angle camera in Yellowknife Park, in the heart of the Northwest Territories (Canada). Between the months of August and May, the AuroraMax observatory device turns on automatically at nightfall.
“Imagine that you are lying on your back and can see all around you”, explains the agency, which offers a live 180-degree image in high resolution. In order to have the best chance of observing the aurora, you must therefore connect to this stream between midnight and 5:30 p.m., Paris time. And Por the less patient, the observatory offers an accelerated video summary of the previous night every day.
In Lapland, several front-row webcams
A series of cameras installed in the village of Utsjoki, the northernmost town in Finland, make it possible to follow the aurora borealis between September and mid-April, as the creators of the device explain. This locality located in Finnish Lapland enjoys an ideal location for observing the Northern Lights. High definition images are updated in real time. To view them, it is possible to connect to this feed at any time, except around lunchtime (Paris time), because that is when the sun starts to rise again in this region. from mid-January.
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In Swedish Lapland, another set of webcams has been placed in the heart of Abisko National Park in the far north of Sweden. The good quality stream is also updated in real time. It is available at this address, and in this season, you can hope to see the celestial lights for a good part of the day, except between 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
In the north of the United States, the opportunity to see “geomagnetic storms”
A group of students from the University of North Dakota have been running, since May 2021, a dual camera facing due north and dedicated to the study of the aurora borealis. The facility is part of the Aurorasaurus Observation Network, and the live stream can be viewed by clicking this link. To optimize your chances, it is advisable to connect to it between 1:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. (Paris time).
In November 2021, the device picked up significant activity described as a “magnetic storm” by the research team in charge of the project. This phenomenon, which is not so rare, is directly linked to solar activity and causes significant auroras, to the delight of enthusiasts. Other webcams on the lookout for these lights are available, for free, on the SeeTheAurora portal. (article in English).