Chasing the Northern Lights (A Lesson in Persistence)

Are the northern lights on your bucket list? Mine, too. After a few mishaps and some poor planning, we finally saw them for ourselves. It was worth the headache and frustration, and we will be much better prepared for our next opportunity to see the aurora borealis (northern lights).

 

Finally! We saw the elusive aurora borealis this past week! But we almost missed it.

Thank goodness we persisted despite our planning mishaps and frustration. Now, I can finally check the northern lights off my bucket list.

Today, I want to share with you about our experience, including what we learned, what we wish we had done differently, and what you need to know for the next time good ol’ Aurora Borealis comes around.

 

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Chasing the Northern Lights in Michigan

As most of our state residents already know, the northern lights make fairly frequent appearances in Michigan’s upper peninsula. But my family and I live in the Southwest quadrant of the lower peninsula, and it’s not a common occurrence down here.

As luck would have it though, the conditions were near-perfect on Monday (9/18/2023) to see the northern lights (also known as the aurora borealis) throughout most of the state, including our area. And, well… when Aurora Borealis comes knocking on your doorstep, it would be rude not to greet her. Right?

We knew we had to take advantage of this opportunity (and our kids were more than happy to stay up late on a school night to go on a night sky-viewing adventure). We were all tired the next day, but it was so worth it.

 

Our Family’s Great Northern Lights Adventure

Every time our family heads to Northern Michigan, I come prepared to view the aurora borealis if the opportunity was to present itself… but it never has. So, on Monday, when my husband heard the “you can see northern lights in Michigan tonight” talk in our local northern lights Facebook groups, we were determined not to miss our chance.

 

 

Preparing For Our Northern Lights Adventure

We live in Grand Rapids (Michigan’s second largest city), and we knew there was probably too much light pollution near our home to see it here. So, we spent hours researching possible viewing locations within a 60-mile radius of our home. We examined dark sky maps, used Google maps (including its satellite and streetview images) to find possible locations, looked up the hours of operation of various parks and beaches, considered the amount of tree coverage and light for each individual location. We ended up with a list of eight possibilities.

We discussed our plans with the kids. They were thrilled with the idea of staying up late on a school night to look for the northern lights. To my teenage son’s dismay, the suggestion of this adventure inspired his younger sister to start singing songs from the Frozen movie soundtrack. LOL!

While the kids were at the respective extracurricular activities, my husband and I packed everything we might need: camera, tripod, snacks, camp chairs, coats, etc.

We picked up the last kid at 9pm from the final extracurricular practice for the night. Then, we were off!

 

Persistence Required (We Almost Missed It!)

By the time we finally hit the road (a little after 9pm), people in Northern areas of Michigan were already posting pictures of live sightings. The aurora borealis was showing up, and it was obvious that the show was going to be magnificent.

We headed to the first possible viewing location on our list, and it was… A TOTAL BUST! It was a park and ride out in a remote country location, and it had clear sightlines to the North. Unfortunately, it was also an extremely well-lit parking lot. With lights as bright as that, there was no way the elusive northern lights would be showing up there for us.

We went to the second possible viewing location on our list, and it was… ALSO A BUST! It was a municipal building parking lot for a very small country town. It’s parking lot backed up to a large dark field. Unfortunately for us, the building itself had several huge floodlights that did their job too well. Again, there was too much immediate light pollution.

Meanwhile, more and more people are posting pictures of live sightings. The aurora borealis was showing her magnificent colors and dancing seemingly all over the state, and we were missing it.

Increasingly frustrated, we tried the third possible viewing location on our list. AGAIN, IT WAS A BUST! This location was a wonderfully dark roadside park in a remote location surrounded by farms… and a single line of dense trees that completely blocked our sightlines to the North. Again, no northern lights for us.

At this point, we drove aimlessly up and down nearby country roads. We had hoped to stop roadside somewhere with a clear sightline to the north. But the area we were in was too wooded.

We were starting to consider just going home. We were pretty certain that all the other locations on our list were going to have the same issues as the first three. But then we remembered an open farm field next to a relative’s home.

My husband and I turned to each other and said, “Why not?”

 

Northern Lights Achievement Unlocked

Lucky us! This new location worked out perfectly. We were able to park along the shoulder of a remote country road overlooking a large farm field. We had a clear view of the sky and horizon to the north.

We shut off the car, turned off our headlights, and rolled down our windows. Looking out, the sky was very dark and the stars were brighter than back home. The big dipper sat low in the sky, and beneath that… there was a white-ish glowing haze.

At first, I thought the glowing haze was light pollution but my teenage son commented that it looked a little green to him. He was convinced that we were seeing the northern lights. As we continued to watch this haze, it began to brighten and fade and change shape… just like the aurora borealis would. Soon, we were all convinced that we were indeed seeing the elusive aurora borealis.

I had read earlier that day about how the aurora borealis sometimes can’t be seen with the naked eye but can be seen on your camera scene. So, for further confirmation, we pointed our camera lens at the glow and, sure enough, the haze showed up in the typical shapes and colors we’ve seen in various pictures of the northern lights.

 

Achievement unlocked! We saw the northern lights! And, surprisingly, we only had to drive 20 miles from our house to see them.

We snapped a few photos, murmured some oohs and aahs, watched the lights dance for a while… then we headed home. Afterall, it was a school night.

 

What You Need to Know for Your Own Northern Lights Adventure

If you are new to chasing the northern lights, here are a few basic tips on how to prepare for your adventure, what to watch for, and how to snap a photo of it.

As a friendly reminder, I am a total newb at this myself. I am merely sharing the little bit I’ve learned so far.

 

Get Ready For the Aurora Borealis

Prepare, prepare, prepare. The northern lights cannot be predicted very far in advance – maybe 2-3 days ahead of time but often much less time. If you want to see them, you need to have a plan ahead of time and be ready to go on very short notice. By preparing ahead of time, you have the best chance of a successful viewing.

Scout locations ahead of time. It can be near impossible to find a dark, safe location with clear sightlines to the north on the spur of the moment. It’s best to scout out locations ahead of time. Some tools that can help you scout locations:

• Use dark sky maps to locate the areas with the least amount of light pollution.
• Once you have made a list of possible viewing locations, go check that out. Ideally, you would visit them ahead of time during the day and at night.
• While visiting a possible viewing location, take note of all the following: Is there immediate light pollution, such as street lights, flood lamps on nearby buildings, headlights from nearby roads/highways, etc? Would you feel safe in this location at night? Is it legal for you to be at this location? Are there trees or buildings blocking your views to the north? If at a park, what time does it close?
• Locations you could consider include dark sky parks, scenic overlooks, roadside parks, public boat launches, lakefront property (viewing from the south end of a lake is especially ideal), hill tops, flat open spaces, etc.
• Ask friends and family for suggestions. You would be surprised who has a great place for viewing the night skies.

PRO TIP:  Don’t advertise your viewing location on social media. This is for your own personal avoid and it avoids creating an unexpected mob scene.

Sign up for alerts. There are several apps that will alert you of possible and actual Aurora Borealis sightings. Although I currently use the My Aurora Forecast and Alerts app, I find Facebook Groups dedicated to Aurora sightings to be the most helpful. I recommend finding yourself a northern lights Facebook group specific to your area for the best up-to-the-minute updates.

Bring the right lighting. Every time you turn on a white light, your eyes have to readjust to the darkness. This makes viewing dark night skies difficult. If you need to use a light, red lights work best for the purpose of night vision.

Be camera-ready. Bring your camera, make sure it is charged up, and know ahead of time what settings to use. See below for some basic night photography tips.

FUN FACT:  Sometimes you can’t see the aurora borealis with your naked eye but you can still see it with your camera.

Be patient. The northern lights don’t show up on our schedule; it appears when it wants to (and for as long as it wants to). That means you may need to wait. It also means that if it stops dancing, you may want to wait around awhile longer because it might come back later that same night.

Where to See Northern Lights in Michigan

Are you wondering where you can see northern lights in Michigan specifically? Consider these places: Dark Sky Parks, Lake Michigan shores, Mackinaw City, Wilderness State Park, the Lake Superior shoreline.

 

What to Watch For (How to Spot and Recognize the Aurora Borealis)

The aurora borealis/northern lights may not look how you expect it to. It can be easy to miss or mistake as something else. Here’s a few tips to help you spot it.

Watch the horizon. A lot of people expect the northern lights to be high in the sky or even directly overhead. But the further south you are, the lower these dancing lights are in the sky. Thus, you want to be looking out towards the horizon more than you look upward.

Pay close attention to any light on the horizon or in the sky. That faint glow you see might be light pollution in the distance or a reflection… or it might actually be the northern lights. In our case, the aurora borealis showed up as a faint white-ish haze that we originally mistook as light pollution along the horizon.

Don’t expect bright and colorful. The northern lights can be a little bashful at times. The lights might be really faint and the colors may not be immediately distinguishable. As I mentioned, they initially showed up as a faint white-ish haze when we saw them. Upon closer inspection, we started to notice this faint light glowed brighter at times, it had traces of color to it, and it would change shapes.

Take a peek through your camera lens. Sometimes the northern lights are not visible by your naked eye but can be seen when viewed through a camera lens. If you’re wondering why that is, this blog post by Melissa F Kaelin explains it.

 

Photographing the Northern Lights (Basic Night Sky Photography For Beginners)

Just another friendly reminder, my husband and I are complete novices at night sky photography. But we did manage to snag a couple photos of the aurora borealis while on our adventure.

We used our phones to photograph (Samsung Galaxy S21 and Samsung Galaxy S21 fe), and the pictures turned out surprisingly well. We found it important to turn on “Night Mode” for the pictures and then to hold the phone very still for each picture.

Although a couple pictures turned out pretty well, I have plans for better pictures next time. I’ve been reading up on it and I’m planning to practice some night sky photography over the next couple of weeks.

Some Good Basic Night Sky Photography Tips:

• Steady the camera. A sturdy tripod would be best. If you don’t have a tripod, you can prop your device against something sturdy. To avoid jiggling the device while taking a photo, you should also consider using a delay or snapping the photo remotely by using of a clicker.
• Learn best settings for your camera/device. Every phone and camera is a little different. I found it helpful to do a quick search within my Northern Lights Facebook Groups for the best photo settings for my specific device. A Google Search may prove helpful as well. In particular, it is recommended that you try using your device’s Night Mode and lengthening the photo exposure.
• Practice Your Night Sky Photography. I wish I had done this before our excursion. Over the next couple of weeks, I plan to experiment with the various settings to see which ones take the best pictures at night for my phone. It is my hope that I will snag even better pictures of the northern lights the next time.

 

Helpful Resources for Viewing and Photographing the Northern Lights

I know the information I provided above is really basic stuff. If you want to really dive in and learn more, here are several great resources to help you do that:

• What is the aurora borealis? See this explanation provided by Royal Museums Greenwich.
• Dark Sky Maps
• Aurora Forecasting
• Night Sky Photography Guide provided by Digital Camera World
• Northern Lights Photography Guide provided by Capture the Atlas
• Headlands International Dark Sky Park

 

Check the Northern Lights Off Your Bucket List!

So, there you go. Everything you need to know to check the northern lights off from your bucket list.

Personally, I’m hoping for another opportunity to see northern lights on my next visit to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. *fingers crossed*

Have you seen the northern lights before? Where? When?

Do you hope to see the northern lights someday in the future?

Have you planned (or would you ever) travel to a destination specifically in the hopes of seeing northern lights?

Please leave me a comment below. I would love to hear about your northern lights experiences/dreams/plans.