Somdatta Ganguly, The Ultimate Laser Show presented to you by NATURE! (Aurora Borealis) (LANDSCAPE 2023)

It was a chance meeting with the dancing Northern Lights last month, September 2023, when we went to Iceland! 13 years ago, when we went to Finland, we had hidden inside our hearts a similar tiny expectation to see it! Well, that tiny expectation was so tiny (ahem) that it had even forced us out of our cozy hotel rooms in the middle of the night at -12ºC in a snowstorm. We were young then and always embarked on unplanned adventures. Naturally, we didn’t know about the many factors to view the Aurora - like you need to have a clear sky, enough darkness around, nor did we have the Aurora forecast apps at that time. Being equipped with these weapons now, we did see the elusive aurora this time and what a breathtaking sight it was! The Kp index was 3 and the sky was clear. So we took our chances and headed off towards one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland - Skógafoss. We were rewarded soon enough! We could see the flare above the falls. Slowly the whole sky was covered with glow and from the variations of the glow, we could sense the different colours present in the aurora. Oh what a sight it was…as if I was looking into a galaxy above! Soon the place was filled with other prospectors, so we moved to a quieter place and there the glow reached the pinnacle! The dark night was the dance floor and the beautiful green, red and purple lights were performing a heavenly dance. An experience of a lifetime!

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.