Northern lights are gray...

One my last day here on the Midnatsol. We saw the lights 3 nights. But just so you are not misled, to the human eye the lights are just a cloudy gray color. The colors only show up on your photos. We were discussing last night whether we would have gone, knowing they were not green, as you see in the photos. I enjoyed the cruise very much, and Im glad I came, but not sure I would have booked it if not for all the photos showing beautiful green lights..

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When they are strong you see the colors more clearly but yes, it is a different experience in pictures and seeing them in person. Last night they were not strong at all, the night you arrived in Tromso (southbound) they were stronger and although the colors were not strong you could see them wave and move, and personnaly I think this is an amazing show in itself. The experience of being there under a incredible beautiful starry sky and seing veils of light, whichever color, moving and dancing in the sky is enough to make me want to see them again.

Also, Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon and you never know whether you will see them, and if you do, how strong they will be. It is important for future visitors of Norway in winter (or other parts of the world where you can see NL) to keep an open mind about that, and go to a place which you would enjoy anyway, NL or not. The NL are an added bonus if they come.

One my last day here on the Midnatsol. We saw the lights 3 nights. But just so you are not misled, to the human eye the lights are just a cloudy gray color. The colors only show up on your photos. We were discussing last night whether we would have gone, knowing they were not green, as you see in the photos. I enjoyed the cruise very much, and Im glad I came, but not sure I would have booked it if not for all the photos showing beautiful green lights..

I'm sorry you didn't get a better display, but to say that the lights 'are just a cloudy gray color' and 'only show up on your photos' isn't correct. The lights you saw may have been so, but they vary greatly.

If they are faint then a camera will enhance them but we have seen strong green, red and grey with some beautiful movement within them over several nights in several locations.

On our trip we saw what you are describing - a pale greenish grey in a small section of the sky one night, and then we were lucky on another night and saw lots of green across the entire horizon that danced and waved for about two hours. Truly exciting for us. Yes, the greens showed up better in our photos, but we still saw green and some shades of red. I agree with the others, for me seeing the coast of Norway in winter and visiting the small towns was why I went - seeing the northern lights was a fabulous bonus I'm glad I got to experience.

I'm sorry you didn't get a great display, but please do not make others think that a great display is not possible. We have seen incredible reds, greens and golds. Even a typical 'good' display is a lovely cream and green color that, yes, does darken the green in photos but is still spectacular in person.

When we saw the lights they were really green. Some people said they saw traces of reds but we can't say we did. But some of our photos were deeper hues but photos are not easy to capture, especially on a moving ship. I was quite thrilled with our views, at one time the curtains moved and shimmered but rather in slow motion, but fabulous.

The first time I saw NLs it was from an Alaska cruise in September. The lights looked pale green and straight lightbeams almost like dim searchlights and we wondered what they were until someone told us. I mention this just to say what others have said too, that tthey vary each time, as most natural phenomena will. Always impressed by natural though and especially privileged to experience nature in rare moments. m--

If the lights are enhanced somehow by capturing the image by photography, are there perhaps any lenses for eyes that might work that way a bit?

Thanks.

I think you will find it is the sensor response that enhances the colours rather than the lens.

We get the northern lights in Canada fairly often and I usually see them as green

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We have seen them in the UK, Norway and Greenland.

In the UK and Greenland they were green with some silver, in Norway they were green, silver and red. The intensity of the colours in all three locations could be quite faint at times and we could scarcely see them, but in Norway and Greenland they could become so bright the response was simply 'Wow'!

How long did you stay watching and were you using your camera at the same time? I only ask as we were advised to watch for at least 15-30 mins and in the dark area of the ship if possible as it gives the rods and cones that detect light and colour in your eye time to adjust - same as when you go into a dark room and initially can hardly see anything. Digital camera's have bright view finders that also deter getting a good view. My friend and I saw Green and Pinks when we were on the Nordnorge last year. The longer we stayed watching and the darker the place we were watching from the more intense they became.

How long did you stay watching and were you using your camera at the same time? I only ask as we were advised to watch for at least 15-30 mins and in the dark area of the ship if possible as it gives the rods and cones that detect light and colour in your eye time to adjust - same as when you go into a dark room and initially can hardly see anything. Digital camera's have bright view finders that also deter getting a good view. My friend and I saw Green and Pinks when we were on the Nordnorge last year. The longer we stayed watching and the darker the place we were watching from the more intense they became.

Thanks very much for the suggestion.

We'll keep that in mind, and arrive on deck, no matter what time, all bundled up to stay a while :)

How long did you stay watching and were you using your camera at the same time?

We were out for well over an hour. I was using a digital camera but it was a DSLR, so had a viewfinder and not a bright LED screen.

As a natural phenomen- they are what they are on the night you see them - no quality control. Quite a lot depends on the sun's activity and how bright the moon is - the less moon the better. My experience on the Hurtigruten is if you want a chance of seeing them keep the alert on in the cabin so you will be contacted when the lights are observable and, find the darkest part of the ship. And finally wrap up very very warm

:)

Thanks very much for the suggestion.

We'll keep that in mind, and arrive on deck, no matter what time, all bundled up to stay a while :)

Good luck. I hope they make an appearance.

When they are strong you see the colors more clearly but yes, it is a different experience in pictures and seeing them in person. Last night they were not strong at all, the night you arrived in Tromso (southbound) they were stronger and although the colors were not strong you could see them wave and move, and personnaly I think this is an amazing show in itself. The experience of being there under a incredible beautiful starry sky and seing veils of light, whichever color, moving and dancing in the sky is enough to make me want to see them again.

 

Also, Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon and you never know whether you will see them, and if you do, how strong they will be. It is important for future visitors of Norway in winter (or other parts of the world where you can see NL) to keep an open mind about that, and go to a place which you would enjoy anyway, NL or not. The NL are an added bonus if they come.

We only had one night for aurora chasing and it was almost completely overcast. We didn't even see a gray veil. It was still fun freezing our behinds at 2AM with Halfdan (the guide) desperately trying to find us an open bit of sky. The moon decided to stay parked in the only clear spot. I do not know how it managed to do that since the astrophysics wouldn't allow this. I guess the clouds followed wherever the moon moved. ;)

We were on the MS Spitsbergen March 19-24, 2017 southbound. We had very good display the first two nights and an ok display the third. It was a great adventure and we tried to at least step off the ship in each port no matter how short the stop. The address below is a stop action the first night.

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We were on the MS Spitsbergen March 19-24, 2017 southbound. We had very good display the first two nights and an ok display the third. It was a great adventure and we tried to at least step off the ship in each port no matter how short the stop. The address below is a stop action the first night.

 

 

 

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Thanks so much for posting this link to your own viewing.

What type of camera did you use?

Question: Given what has been mentioned about the difference between what "shows" on images vs. what one "sees" visually in real time, how would you say the video compares with what you "saw with your eyes at the time"?

We certainly hope we have even part of what you've shown, when we take the 12 night N&S trip next March (2018).

We figure as long as we are traveling so far to "get there", we might as well maximize the chance of seeing some lights.

That way, hopefully a few cloudy nights won't interfere entirely. But we also chose March, as it seems to be a time when there is relatively low chance of clouds, vs other times of the year.

And of course, we chose a time period with less lighting by the moon (lovely as that probably would be in other circumstances).

We are also looking forward to some beautiful coastal/fjord views regardless of weather :)

Geezercouple -

1. Finda tutorial explaining how to shoot the northern lights,

2. Makesure your camera has the correct lens.

3. In the dark go outside and set up your cameraand practice, practice, practice.

 

Geezercouple -

 

 

 

 

My husband used a Sony 7R and I used a Olympus *****-D E-M10. Thecouple we were traveling with used a Canon bridge camera and a Lumix point andshoot. The most important thing is the lens. There are lots of photography tutorials onthe internet if you google Northern Lights Photography. You CANNOT shoot video. We made the video by shooting stopaction. With the camera mounted on atripod we (husband) set the camera to shoot a photo every three seconds andthen put them together in a video program. I used a handheld release to snap photos. My husband shot all his photos in RAWsetting. The rest of us just used jpegformat. We practiced at home for aboutthree months so that we knew what we were doing.

 

 

We stayed the nightbefore the cruise at the Snow Hotel and there had been a hugh snow storm withlow clouds. The first night afterleaving Kirkenes at about 12:30PM the captain announced (about 10:30PM) thatthere was a display of northern lights. We all went up to the observation deck and saw swirling dancinggraygreen swirls. When you hold yourcamera up to your eye it is a very distinct green, blue, and maybe purple. But you can distinctly see the swirlingmovement with your naked eye. We wereout until about 1:30 AM.

 

 

I think the mostimportant thing is to

1. Finda tutorial explaining how to shoot the northern lights,

2. Makesure your camera has the correct lens.

3. In the dark go outside and set up your cameraand practice, practice, practice.

 

Bring layers. It is really cold on the top deck whilemoving. We had wool underwear, shirt,sweater and parka. We also had aBalaklava and wool hat. We had thedisposable hand and foot warmers. Iended up putting the warmer in my pocket keeping the pockets warm and puttingmy hands in when I couldn’t stand the cold any more.

 

 

It was a fantastic cruiseand experience. I hope to be able to doan Iceland expedition and also and Antarctica expedition with Hurtigruten inthe future.

 

 

On our ship (best keptsecret) there were three washers and dryers. Hurtigruten supplies the laundry detergent and fabric softenerautomatically into the washer. There isno charge for use.

Thanks so much.

It sounds a bit like you could "see the lights better" when you were viewing them through the camera (and not just looking at the recorded images later).Is that the case?

On a different topic, what did you get for the "disposable hand and foot warmers".

Sounds like a very good idea!

As a Norwegian native who have lived in Tromso in North of Norway my whole life, I just want to reassure people that the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) are indeed normally of GREEN color - also to the "naked eye". I have actually never seen any grey northern lights - not even once in my life... But it is true that all the other colors that you can see in photos, like red, pink, violet etc are colors that a camera can pick up but not visible when looking at them without a camera. I can also assure you that even when it is "only green" it often look pretty spectacular anyway - no need for all the other colors....

1 hour ago, TrumpyNor said:

As a Norwegian native who have lived in Tromso in North of Norway my whole life, I just want to reassure people that the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) are indeed normally of GREEN color - also to the "naked eye". I have actually never seen any grey northern lights - not even once in my life... But it is true that all the other colors that you can see in photos, like red, pink, violet etc are colors that a camera can pick up but not visible when looking at them without a camera. I can also assure you that even when it is "only green" it often look pretty spectacular anyway - no need for all the other colors....

Hi TrumpyNor,

You've probably had so many wonderful opportunities to see those Lights 

However, in terms of how the lights' colors appear to others, it no doubt varies from person to person, in terms of various aspects of their individual vision.

The one night on Hurtigruten when we saw the "best" Northern Lights ("best" of that particular RT cruise), DH and I were looking at the same places in the sky, from a sheltered balcony (less wind, less brutal cold!), and we each reported seeing it differently.  We both saw the lights doing a bit of "dancing" (don't know how else to describe it), and that was absolutely fascinating.  We hadn't expected that.

But as for color, I saw a hint of pink/purple in a couple of areas... not much, and quite pale.  Even the green was relatively pale, but a bit stronger than the other colors, and much more widespread.

But DH?  He reported seeing almost entirely "gray", with "maybe some hint of green".

The previous evening when some lights appeared, it seemed mostly gray to both of us, but I'd describe a "vague hint of green".

There's probably quite a range of what *different* "human eyes" are able to see.

But we SAW them, and it was amazing!

Of course, the entire trip was amazing.  It's a BEAUTIFUL country.  We'd like to return, and we are torn between mid-winter/all dark Polar Night (would be interesting!) or Midnight Sun.  With the latter, not only would we experience the Midnight Sun, but we'd see so much more of the beautiful landscape!

GC

I was also wondering the same thing... whether the lights are like the neon green color you see in photographs.  I saw what I considered to be a spectacular display of lights in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland in early September, which appeared as an undulating, narrow, pale milky/opalescent green band that appeared directly overhead.  I just couldn't breathe for a few minutes; the sheer scale of it- stretching from one side of the sky to the other - was incredibly awe-inspiring despite a nearly full moon.  That being said, it wasn't fluorescent at all, even though it pulsed and waned in intensity throughout the display.  The beauty of it was the fact that it was such a random occurrence.  I was in my hotel room getting ready for bed and I just happened to peek out the window and noticed something a bit odd about the night sky.  I quickly put on everything I packed and ran outside and stood in the freezing cold for an hour by myself just mesmerized - easily one of the most unforgettable sights of my life. 

We have seen the lights on several occasions in several different locations and have seen green, silver (grey?) and red with the naked eye. Beautiful!

Hoping to see the lights - whatever colour!!  We have just booked a cruise for October 2nd next year - so, the start of the NL "season" - but we get to the see the beautiful coastline and fall colours even if they don't appear!!