Reykjavik Turns Off Street Lights To Turn Up The Northern Lights
By
Rebecca Hersher |
NPR
Thursday, September 29, 2016
The northern lights over Iceland in February. The glowing orange area on the left side are the lights of the capital, Reykjavik.
Jamie Cooper
/
SSPL via Getty Images
On Wednesday evening, the city of Reykjavik, Iceland, turned off street lights and encouraged people to darken their homes so that everyone could watch the northern lights.
The city council released a statement saying street lights would be turned off in multiple sections of the city between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time and warning people to drive carefully.
The city of about 120,000 people, which is located just below the Arctic Circle, prides itself on its frequent shows of the aurora borealis. The blackout attempt appeared justified — photos and videos posted to social media by people in Reykjavik showed dancing lights against a mostly dark sky.
Although it is a small city, light pollution from Reykjavik is visible in past photos of the northern lights, appearing as an orange or pink glow at the horizon.
The Icelandic news outlet The Reykjavik Grapevine reported that the lights stayed off until midnight to accommodate a late start by the solar system and that some people were initially annoyed when the green glow didn't appear on schedule.
The northern lights are routinely visible in the circumpolar region, sometimes even well below the Arctic Circle. The same solar activity that led to the intense lights over Iceland are creating good conditions for the aurora borealis over much of Alaska, where the forecast likelihood of northern lights Thursday night is high.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
View this story on npr.org
Follow us for more stories like this
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.
Donate Today