Northern lights are a natural phenomenon that many people dream of seeing just once in their lifetime. I was extremely lucky to see them in Iceland’s Westfjords back in 2015, but while living in Greenland from September 2018 to February 2019, they were almost a weekly encounter. Some months were better than others, but I have to say that I was extremely surprised to see them so often – in a city! Before coming to Nuuk, I thought there would be too much light pollution to see them, so I would have to travel north to see them. But while I did get a great show up north in Ilulissat, Nuuk also gave me its fair share of amazing auroras.
Below are some of my favourite pictures that I took of the northern lights during my five months in Nuuk!
September 2018
I had my very first Aurora sighting in Nuuk on September 16th 2018 at 10.30 PM. I was lucky to be living with four girls in an apartment with a great view facing north, so all it took for us to know if there were northern lights out, was to look out of the window. And that night they finally came!
We rushed outside and down to the shore to shoot our very first pictures of the northern lights, and while the lights were actually quite faint (kp3), it was still an amazing experience.
The northern lights returned the next night and many more nights in September, and every time, the girls and I would run outside with all of our gear to photograph it!
October 2018
The beginning of October was quiet on the Aurora front, but by the end of the month, they really took off! During the end of October and the beginning of November, we had three weeks of constant northern lights – with no cloudy nights in between! It was incredble and gave us many opportunities to practice our photography skills!
November 2018
November came, and the northern lights continued to paint the night sky. It was incredible to see them so often – especially when thinking back to my initial imagining of not seeing them at all in Nuuk! As the weeks of constant northern lights went by, we got lazier and started shooting them less often. But we always enjoyed watching them, especially from the comfort of our sofas.
December 2018
In December, the northern lights shows slowed down, and I was actually starting to get worried that my family wouldn’t see them when they came to visit me for the Holidays. Earlier, I had told them that it was almost certain that they would see them, but now I wasn’t so sure…
Thankfully, they came back by the end of their visit, and we actually had two nights of northern lights, although the first night was the best one with vibrant lights all over the center of Nuuk!
January 2019
Once we got to January, I started regretting that I hadn’t used every opportunity I had to photograph the northern lights in November, as they were now few and far between. By the end of the month, which was also the end of my time in Nuuk, I became somewhat desperate and would go on night walks when I saw just the slighest bit of faint northen light. I wanted to photograph them so badly, and although I didn’t get many nights with vibrant lights, I did manage to get a few photos of the more faint Auroras.
Oh, and on one of my last nights, when I was out and about in Nuuk WITHOUT my camera, the northern lights were vibrantly dancing across the entire night sky. I was sad that I hadn’t brought my camera, but at least it was a nice send-off to see them one last time!
As you can see from this post, I got extremely lucky with my Aurora sightings in Nuuk, especially in November! I can’t believe how many times I saw them, and yet I still find them incredibly exciting! I’m already missing those beautiful night skies so much!
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