1. if you're in iceland—or anywhere else the aurora is likely to be—look up. keep your eyes on the sky. you definitely won't see it if you never look up at the sky.
2. check if the sky is clear; if it's completely cloudy, you likely won't see any aurora, but if there is minimal to moderate cloud coverage, you could still have a shot.
3. if you see anything that looks vaguely weird or cloud-like, investigate further—it could be the beginnings of or low-level aurora.
4. if you see something potentially interesting, stick with it, don't write it off if it's not immediately spectacular.
5. if you see something potentially interesting, use your handy-dandy aurora detection device—your cell phone camera. iphone seems to work best. at low levels, it can be seen by your phone even if nothing is visible to the naked eye. pull it out and check at regular intervals. if you seen any spot of color, it could be aurora—stick with it and see what happens.
6. if the something potentially interesting starts becoming a bit brighter, even if there are no colors visible to the naked eye yet (it might just look like spectre-esque smoke or thin clouds). it changes second to second, minute to minute. it can get much much brighter one second, then dance around the next, then disappear almost completely.
7. if it's not immediately spectacular, don't get discouraged; or at least don't give up entirely. all aurora events are not equal; the existence of low-level auroras does not mean they are never truly spectacular.
8. as much as you can, minimize the external light around you. find the darkest spot around and keep your eyes peeled for anything interesting.
9. read this xkcd comic for more information/inspiration.
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| my boyfriend in front of the aurora. the color was not nearly as vibrant in person, but the shape definitely was. we watched it for nearly twenty minutes, and were rewarded with many different shapes and dancing formations, in various levels of brightness. |
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