Frost, Fire and Northern Lights in Iceland

By Nancy Atkinson - October 13, 2012 at 2:26 AM UTC | Observing
jokulsarlon.jpg

Northern lights over the Jökulsárlón glacial lake in Iceland on September 19, 2012. Credit: Jean-Luc Dauvergne

Iceland is a land of stark beauty and extremes in both weather and landscape. But its also a place to see some of the most spectacular views of northern lights. Jean-Luc Dauvergne a journalist from Ciel Et Espace, a French astronomy magazine, recently traveled to Iceland and said in an email to Universe Today, "I think that this incredible place may be one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world to do photography with northern lights." After seeing a view like this one at the Jökulsárlón Lagoon, on September 19, 2012 at the height of auroral activity, Dauvergne will likely return to Iceland again. "The weather was nearly perfect. And I saw northern lights every night What luck!"

He sent us another image of northern lights taken beside a US Navy DC3 "Dakota" that crashed in Icelandic South Coast in bad weather in 1973, which is located in the Solheimasondur area at the foot of the famous Eyjafjallajökull volcano that erupted in 2010, along with a video he created from his travels to Iceland.

Northern lights in Iceland on Sept. 20, 2012. Credit: Jean-Luc Dauvergne

You can see more of Dauvergne's images at

http://astrophotography.fr/

The travel bureau from Iceland should consider using this video that Dauvergne created in order to advertise the great experiences one can have in this country. First in the video is Gulfoss, the "Golden Falls", a 70 meter wide waterfall; then a geyser, named "Geysir" which the biggest geyser in the world after those in Yellowstone National Park in the US; then is the Vatnajökull area , the biggest glacier in Europe. "The most impressive place is the Jökulsárlón where the glacier arrive in a lake that communicates with the ocean," said Dauvergne

[embed]https://vimeo.com/51004135[/embed]

Frost, Fire and Northern Lights in Iceland from Jean-Luc Dauvergne on Vimeo.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com