Northern Lights
The North - Ontario
General information about the Northern Lights in Ontario
Northern Ontario in particular is very well suited for observing the Northern Lights. On the one hand, Ontario is very favorably located in terms of latitude, as the auroral oval extends particularly far south here. On the other hand, the north is very sparsely populated, which means there is very little light pollution and the night sky is very dark. When you look north, you can often see the horizon and have an unobstructed 180-degree view of the night sky. This is particularly important because the Northern Lights are often seen very low on the horizon. A dark night sky with little light pollution is essential for searching for the Northern Lights, as the light of the Northern Lights is similar in brightness to starlight.
Northern Lights
Description: Our location in Marathon was somewhat suboptimal because there was still too much artificial light at the boat launch in Marathon. In addition, we were also illuminated by a huge spotlight that kept turning on. Ultimately, there would probably have been better places, but we didn't want to miss the northern lights by searching for better locations in the car. So we settled for this.
Our rating: We actually wanted to leave because nothing much was happening in the sky. But as is often the case, one person convinces the other (in this case, Gerd convinced me) to wait another 10 minutes. It was worth it because suddenly the northern lights began to dance across the sky. In the end, the whole spectacle lasted less than 30 minutes, and we tried to make the best of it under the somewhat unfortunate circumstances. It was impressive nonetheless, and we are very grateful that we were able to experience this spectacle once again.
