Until recently, the wonders of Iceland went largely unnoticed. For many years, flights between the United States and Europe stopped only briefly for fuel in the capital city of Reykjavík (RAY-kyuh-vik). Today, this remote North Atlantic island is blossoming into a destination noted for its wealth of natural wonders — explosive geysers, gurgling mud pools, snakelike lava flows, majestic waterfalls, towering glaciers, and steaming thermal baths. TravelQuest International and Sky & Telescope ...Show more
magazine editor Paul Deans invite you to join a very special exploration of this exotic land of the Vikings, September 15–22, 2006, as we discover nature’s magnificence by day and marvel at the elusive aurora borealis, or northern lights by night.
Of the many wonders this trip offers, viewing and photographing the aurora (weather permitting) and experiencing the haunting beauty of Iceland are the main highlights. With this in mind, most days of the tour will begin no earlier than 10:30 a.m., giving travelers who stay up late watching the aurora a chance to sleep late each morning. As Iceland is not a large country, each day’s activities in Reykjavík and the southern region of this island nation will cover relatively small areas. This means that even though we’ll see a lot of wonderful geologic scenery, our longest day of sightseeing will be no more than eight hours, with most days much shorter.
Each clear night in the countryside, we’ll stand watch for the northern lights — eerie, ever-changing glows in the sky caused when energetic particles from the Sun slam into Earth’s upper atmosphere, literally electrifying it. Because these particles are channeled by our planet’s magnetic field, they work their magic where the field is oriented into Earth, near the magnetic poles. Iceland, close to the north magnetic pole, is blessed with frequent and spectacular auroral displays. They take on many forms: undulating curtains, pulsing rays, and dramatic overhead coronas, or crowns. Their colors — green, red, purple, or blue — range from subtle to vibrant.
Join us and discover the wonders of Iceland and the aurora borealis!
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