Northern Lights over Finland

Northern Lights over Finland

Photographer Thomas Walter Steffen: "Just around midnight, a huge and strong aurora appeared over the sky of Äkäslompolo. The aurora was so strong, like a full Moon night."

Also known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Finland is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, opposite Estonia.

Image Credit: Thomas Walter Steffen
Location: Äkäslompolo, Finland
Date: Feb. 14, 2026

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