Melanie and I decided to revisit Lapland before the days become too long and aurora hunting ends in early April. We also want another try at dog sledding. We are in Nellim Finland, it’s a wee bit farther north and we are less than 5 miles from the Finnish-Russian border. The Russian influence included a smaller orthodox church that we visited when we arrived. It was a few km from where we are staying. It was reached by crossing several frozen lakes.
About 8 pm local time we went outside and had a great opportunity to watch the Northern Lights. As with our previous visit the lights were largely white with hints of green that could be appreciated. We spent several hours standing on a frozen lake away from most lights and also enjoyed views of the Milky Way and stars. Even by starlight alone (the moon set about 10 pm) we could easily see across the lake. It’s amazing how bright the snow can be. As before the longer exposure times with a camera can detect subtle colors that are missed by the naked eye. We spent about three hours, alone, watching the aurora display before finally heading in for shelter (it was about 15F with some wind).
We are here a few more days so I may have some additional updates. In the meantime we hope you enjoy images from last night. Tonight is supposed to also be clear – but the moon won’t set till midnight and the overnight low drops below zero.