Fascinating aurora shapes: Aurora watching is one of Mother Nature’s best spectacles. The lights and colors that you see are impressive. Sometimes the aurora takes on mind-boggling shapes that oddly resemble things or animals. It’s all up to your imagination!
Here is a gallery of this year’s top picks. People do see different things though. Pattern recognition is a human trait after all but it varies greatly from one person to another so do tell us in the comments below if you see something else!
1. Dragon spitting a ball of fire
This strange Fascinating aurora shapes figure appeared later in March of 2019. The moon was near full and the sky pristine. Around 10pm a huge auroral corona appeared in the south. When reviewing the series of portrait shots from behind the observatory the next day we came across this one. The image of a green dragon looking down while breathing out a ball of fire (the moon) came straight to mind.
2. The Phoenix
This terrific shot was taken on Medfjordvær, Senja a cold December evening. The aurora had been quiet for hours when a huge explosion happened in the sky around midnight. Huge pillars of green and pink filled up the canopy. For about 10 seconds it described the figure of a huge bird soaring above the mountains. Looking back at it on the picture is does look like a giant phoenix reborn of the ashes! Dumbledore should definitely be proud of this one!
3. The butterfly
This big aurora display happened over South Senja in February 2019. It appeared in two bands being separated and dancing both on each side. The result looks like a big long-tail butterfly taking off from the forest trees.
4. The Green eye
A huge round ring appeared in the western sky of Skaland, Senja in February. We can’t even begin to describe how big the shape actually was. Some people think they saw a flying saucer while others think it resembles a large green eye staring down at the ocean. So Soron or Big Brother?
5. Bifrost
This last shape appeared at Tungenesset, Senja is September 2018 as we were watching the sunset. We understand now why the Vikings thought the aurora might be some kind of bridge to the realm of the gods. It wasn’t a rainbow but a bifrost! The wet and rocky shores of the fjords really made it look mystical that night!
