The Northern Lights zone is a circle around the Magnetic North Pole. Tromsø is situated in the middle of this zone and, as a result, you have great chances of seeing the Northern Lights during a visit to Tromsø.
Photo: The Geophysical Institute
Troms is situated right in the centre of the Northern Lights zone. There are other places in the Northern Hemisphere located in this zone. However, except Iceland, the majority of these areas are sparsely populated or uninhabited and for most people are difficult to access or virtually inaccessible. The Northern Lights are visible on occasions in central and southern areas of Scandinavia, and also in parts of Southern Canada and the US Midwest, but not nearly as often as we experience here.
When the storms on the sun are at their most intense, the Northern Lights are visible over central and southern Europe and in parts of the USA. However, this is so rare that very few people living in these regions have ever seen the Northern Lights. In earlier times, outbreaks of the Northern Lights were seen as warnings of disasters or other calamities.
Learn more about how to get to Tromsø
The Southern Lights or aurora australis are the identical opposite to the Northern Lights and are visible in a corresponding zone in the Southern Hemisphere. However, we are talking about extremely inaccessible areas in Antarctica and the Antarctic Ocean. However, the Southern Lights are occasionally visible in parts of New Zealand and the Australian state of Tasmania.