Northern Lights
 

There isn't really a category for this, so hopefully no one will mind the near-fit of "Canada," since I think that's going to be part of the answer.

I live in Chicago, and my friend lives in Boston, and we'd both really really like to see the Northern Lights. Could I do this as a driving trip from Chicago? Would it be better to fly somewhere and rent a car? I've looked for tours but the only ones I can find are really expensive; I'm only recently out of college and want to do this as cheaply as possible.

Also, I read somewhere that the Auroras have "peak" years, and that this isn't one of them. Would it be a much better idea to wait until it is a "peak" year?

Any advice anyone can offer would be most appreciated.

I actually saw them one night in northern lower Michigan, but that was a freak occurance. I'm not sure if they are something you can really plan around. Don't they just sort of show when they show?

We saw them at a campground, so I would think if you can find an area where they are viewable you could find cheap lodging, maybe even pitch a tent.

It's a matter of getting to the right latitude, and anywhere within a day trip of Chicago is still way too far south to guarantee anything.

Ideally, you'd want to aim for the Arctic - somewhere along the same latitude as Alaska. That's why expeditions are so expensive - you're really travelling to very remote parts of the country.

This is a good read if you haven't done so already:

http://wikitravel.org/en/Northern_Lights

Here's a real-time map of where the northern lights can be seen:

http://www.spacew.com/www/realtime.php

At the moment, it looks like they're located between 60 and 70 degrees North. Chicago, by contrast, is at 42 degrees North.

One degree of latitude is about 68 miles.

Interesting stuff Carmanah! Some of those pictures are amazing. The ones we saw weren't that vibrant, but we were only around about 44 degrees parallel.

Yeah, they're quite spectacular, aren't they?

To be completely honest, I have never seen them, ever, in my life. Apparently people do see them here in Vancouver (which is at 49 degrees North), but it's such a rare occurrence, if people do see it here, it makes the news!

We see them regularly in northern Saskatchewan. Gorgeous - greens, pinks, blues... The longest "show" I have seen lasted for just over an hour.

I used to seem them at least once a year in Calgary years ago, but haven't for a couple of decades at least. I suspect that's because of light pollution. I saw them once in the year and a half I lived in Edmonton (on the northern edge of the city).

The best show I ever saw was driving through Sask. on the #1 highway. Lasted at least 1/2 an hour or more and were absolutely beautiful. My dog that they were evil or something, so growled and barked at them the entire time. :)

Thanks for all of the responses, and in particular for the Wiki page--that was extremely helpful. It looks like the lights were at their peak, or shortly past it, when I started wanting to plan a trip four or five years ago; and now they're at a low-point, and I'm more or less s.o.l. It's good to know, though; I'll start saving my vacation time for March of 2012. For anyone else who stumbles on this page, the Wiki also gives an address where you can sign up for alerts, which I'm going to do--just in case an awesome solar storm sends the aurora further south at a convenient time for me to take a long weekend.

Recently checked out options of where to have the best opportunity to see the Auroras Borealis (for fall 2007). It came down to Iceland in winter or Yukon Territory in the fall.

I was told by several people who seem to be "in the know" that there really isn't any "best time" to see the lights because it all depends on solar activities and that aurora performances have nothing to do with temperatures or seasons.

If you are flexible with your travel dates you may want to avoid a full moon phase because the moonlight can take away some of the weaker aurora displays. The time period between 7 days before and after a new moon is considered ideal.

If you do travel to see the lights, and if you want to make the best use of your time and gas money you could try to also take into account when the days are getting longer and the weather is not as cold. Seems like the ideal situation for viewing the lights is to go out in the middle of the night and sit in a field or whatever good viewing area you can find till pre dawn and cross your fingers and hope for the best. As with anything travel there are no guarantees. It may not be very pleasant if you go at a time that's expecially cold.

Don't know if this helps or boggles.