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Apukka Resort Blog & News
Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland
Our blog introduces life in the Arctic to you one topic at a time. From our daily lives here in the North to the old beliefs built around the Northern Lights and the history of Lapland, our blog familiarizes Finland and the Finns to you on a new level.
Please have a look at our blog, hope you find it interesting!
Where the red fox runs
Earlier on in this blog we’ve told you about the science behind the Northern Lights. However, in the history of mankind, the scientific explanation for the Auroras has been available only for a fraction of a time. Before that, people had to rely on their instincts and imagination. Living in the modern day, with all …
As the sun turns the lights on
It always catches us by surprise to notice how fast the seasons change here. At this time of the year the change is unbelievably rapid and in such a short time the nightless night turns into dark nights, allowing the thousands of stars on the sky to escort our way. It’s not only the starry …
High hopes for the heights
As the day turns into evening in wintry Apukka, the starry, clear sky gives us hints of something to look forward to for the night. The anticipation starts to grow and throughout the evening people walk on the premises with their eyes pointed upwards. We are all waiting anxiously, maybe this’ll be one of those …
Northern Light Fact #10 – Legendary Lights
Have you ever wondered what the ancient Greeks or Scandinavians thought about the Aurora Borealis? Even the Northern Lights can be really rare around the world, there are plenty of different myths and legends about them. This is a fact about the myths. The name “Aurora Borealis” is actually derived from Greek words “Aurora” meaning …
Northern Light Fact #9 – The First Lights
Northern Lights have always been there, but who was the first human who accurately described this phenomenon? There are many ancient cave-paintings about Aurora Borealis, oldest known painting is actually called “Macaronis” and it was painted somewhere around 30,000 B.C. Then 2600 B.C there are writings from China saying that “strong lightning was moving around …
Northern Light Fact #8 – Lights at the Equator
Did you know that Auroras have been seen at the Equator? There are confirmed proofs that the Northern Lights may not always be so northern after all. Reports say the most southern Northern Lights ever have been witnessed during the massive solar storm of 1859 known as the Carrington Event. During that time the colors …
Northern Light Fact #7 – The Cool Light
They look like fire, but are the Northern Lights hot? The northern lights may look like fire, but they wouldn’t feel like one if you had the chance to touch them. Yes, Northern Lights are basically hot flying particles from the Sun hitting the Earth’s magnetic field with the speed of sound, but in the …
Northern Light Fact #6 – The Science Side
How the Northern Lights are created? Easy question, really scientific answer. Short answer would be that particles from the Sun hit Earth’s magnetic field and collide with oxygen atoms and release energy. That energy is shown as a green light. Our fact number six is a science fact so today we go deep to the …
Northern Light Fact #5 – The Space Lights
Did you know that astronauts may have the best views of the Northern Lights? When orbiting the Earth, the Northern Lights can be seen directly across from the spaceships in a view unlike any other. The altitude of the Northern Lights is actually same as the altitude of the International Space Station and this is …
Northern Light Fact #4 – The Southern Lights
You know Aurora Borealis, but what about Aurora Australis? Northern Lights are well known around the globe, but very few know that they have their southern counterpart. Around the southern magnetic pole the aurora occurs same way as in the north and actually they occur at the same time. It just happens to be so …
Northern Light Fact #3 – The Color
Why are the Northern Lights so often green? The colors of auroras are determined by the gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, and incoming solar particles tend to collide with different gases at different heights. The most common height for the particles to collide is from 100 to 300 kilometers above the ground. At this height …
The History of Aurora Borealis
An aurora was described by the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th century BC. Seneca wrote about auroras in the first book of his Naturales Quaestiones, classifying them, for instance as pithaei (barrel-like); chasmata (chasm); pogoniae (bearded); cyparissae (like cypress trees), and describing their manifold colors. He wrote about whether they were above or below …
Northern Lights of the Carrington Event
You get a certain hunger for Northern Lights and you have to see them again, and again. When it’s your job to think about Aurora Borealis, you sometimes accidentally start to think how big they can get. It is well known that all The Northern Lights are not the same, so who has seen the …
Northern Light Fact #1 – The Sound
Northern Lights look great, but did you know that they also produce sound? Some people say that you can hear faint sounds such as claps, crackles, and static sounds while Northern Lights are on the sky. However, the aurora noise is so rare that hearing it is possible only during times of maximum aurora activity, …
Northern Light Fact #2 – The Firefox
Have you heard about the Firefox that creates the Northern Lights? Northern Lights can be confusing. Nowadays we know Aurora Borealis is caused by Earth’s magnetic field and wildly flying particles from the sun, but can you imagine how hard it was to explain this phenomenon centuries ago? In Finland people tried to explain Northern …