The fear of earth being attacked from outer space has been showcased in Hollywood blockbusters for decades and even at the moment something is brewing in the atmosphere. As the ionised atoms of the sun bombard us, instead of defending our homes, we will be able to sit back and enjoy the most spectacular light show on earth.
The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) attract millions every year to travel from all over the world in order to catch a glimpse of them. Whilst it is common knowledge that the best area for spotting them is above the Arctic Circle and away from any artificial light, there is still the possibility that they won’t be visible either due to bad weather or simply bad luck.
The lottery of our sleeping sky could be about to strike lucky as the Sun is slowly beginning to wake from a deep decade-long dream.
The simplified scientific explanation is that there are active areas of the Sun’s surface known as sun spots. Ironically these are actually dark spots, which cause a large wave of hot magnetised plasma to be ejected from the Sun at rippling speed.
This solar tsunami hits the protective magnetic field around earth and reacts to create a geometric storm, which on occasions contains a glowing celestial ribbon called “aurora”.
The spottier the Sun, the more active it is, with this cycle lasting around 11 years. It takes approximately five and a half years to travel from the peak of activity to the base and the same length of time to reach the peak again. Considering the last such explosion was in 2001, we can expect to be heading to a hive of solar activity in the near future.
Although more frequently visible in high northern latitudes, in the lead up to the solar maximum, the dancing curtains of green and red lights may brighten up horizons south of the Arctic border.
One guarantee is that your vision of the Northern Lights will be somewhat improved by a journey north of the Arctic Circle. In Swedish Lapland, a hotel is crafted every winter out of blocks of ice in the tiny village of Jukkasjärvi, making for an even more surreal experience.
Harvesting is not a worldwide appeal at the Icehotel with the passing Torne River feeding the constructors with thousands of tons of ice and snow, necessary to upkeep the success of this global brand.
Born firstly out of an exhibition by a group of Japanese artists in 1989 and secondly, just a year later, by the French artist Jannot Derid, who exhibited his designs in an igloo. Without a hotel in the village, visitors opted for a night in the snow structure in order to make their stay worthwhile.
Twenty years later and not only can you spend the night on a block of ice with a slab of reindeer skin for a mattress, but you can also tie the knot in the chilly church. The annual ice collection, beginning in March, contributes to ice bar designs across the world, with the remaining 1,500 tons creating the Icehotel.
Consistent over these years has been the need for artists to pit their sculpting wits against each other, to stake a claim to their cube of ice. Every year the hotel is rebuilt and redesigned and the ideas of sculptors, painters, designers, architects and set designers from around the world are showcased in the inspiring art suites.
A diverse array of art from disturbing dragons to claws clutching at a nest of eggs and the mythical Gotham City capture your imagination as you stroll around the thick light blue corridors. The cool Icebar provides the perfect place for you to contemplate the advice from staff about staying alive in a freezer that maintains temperatures between -3 °C and -8 °C.
It is worth chilling out in the bar, if only for the fact that the vodka will put hairs on your chest and, as dawn breaks the next day, it will bring with it a heartwarming cup of lingonberry juice.
Sunrise also lights up Jukkasjärvi, of which the highlight is the wooden church dating back to 1607 (making it the oldest in Lapland), with its colourfully multicultural altar paintings. The name “Jukkasjärvi” stems originally from the Sami people and more recently from Finnish settlers, meaning “lake of assembly”. This fits in perfectly with the ancient annual Sami Market where villagers used to gather to swap and sell anything from crafts, leather, fish and meat to salt and iron.
Nowadays this popular locality is a meeting place for people from all over the world, where the winter months see the 1,000 strong population multiplied by at least thirty. It is no surprise that this hotspot for the Northern Lights lies in the depths of the Auroral zone, where an almost permanent cloud-free sky is a huge contributor to this festival of lights.
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