Anyone who dreams of one day seeing the Northern Lights no longer has to travel to the Arctic Circle. In the coming years you will also see this colorful light show in your own backyard. Why are the Northern Lights increasingly visible in the Netherlands, and sometimes even in Belgium? The answer lies with the sun.
How are the Northern Lights created?
The sun continuously throws electrically charged particles into space. This particle stream, also called solar wind, flies towards us at a speed of hundreds of kilometers per hour. But these particles do not fall like snowflakes on your garden furniture. Before the electrically charged particles from the sun reach the earth, they first make their way through our atmosphere.
And that is where the magic of the Northern Lights takes place. The solar wind collides with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere. The energy released during these collisions creates colorful flashes of light. So the northern lights. Or the southern lights, because auroras also regularly dance through the sky at the South Pole. The Earth’s magnetic field causes the solar wind to bend towards both poles, creating the Northern Lights and Southern Lights.
When and where can you see the Northern Lights in the Netherlands?
Normally you have to travel to the polar regions to see the Northern Lights. It still remains exciting, because the weather on Earth also has to be good. When it is extremely cloudy, the Northern Lights are difficult to see, even in Iceland or Scandinavia.
But there is good news for all Northern Lights hunters: in the coming years there is a much greater chance that the Northern Lights will pass by in the Netherlands, and even in Belgium. Every eleven years the sun’s activity reaches a maximum, causing many more electrically charged particles to fly into space.
Such a strong solar wind, also called a solar storm, increases the chance that the Northern Lights will also be visible in the Netherlands. In principle, this can occur anywhere in the country, but the natural phenomenon is usually best seen in locations with little light pollution. According to a NASA prediction the next peak in solar activity will occur in 2024. So always keep your camera at hand, because who knows, you might soon photograph the Northern Lights.
Willeke van Doorn studied journalism, traveled the world for a while and eventually ended up at the editorial offices of Quest, National Geographic and Runner’s World via the United States, Australia and New Zealand. She is curious about the world, prefers to travel every month and always takes her running shoes with her.
2023-12-27 14:21:55
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