Moon Phase on Northern Lights Cruise

[What was that?]

We are looking at rebooking our canceled 2021 Northern Lights cruise in 2023. I think that picking a time close to a new moon would give the darkest skies and best Northern Lights viewing. I would like to hear from people who have taken this cruise during times when the moon was full, or nearly so, and whether you felt you were able to see the Northern Lights well enough.

[johneb2]

We took the infamous cruise in March of 2019 in which we had to be evacuated.  (Old history now).  The main thing is we did get to see the northern lights, and it was near the time of the full moon.  What you will find is that the full moon can be both a help and a hinderance.  Remember clouds have more of an impact factor.  Overall, less light is better.  I am an amateur photographer and did get some very good pictures at that time, so I would not automatically dismiss going because of a full moon.  You did not say what month you are thinking about, as that can be far more important than the moon aspect.   Attached you will find one of my pictures.   JohnEB

Edited November 21, 2020 by johneb2
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[CurlerRob]

Great pic! 🥌🍻

[Paulhc]

On 11/20/2020 at 6:15 PM, johneb2 said:

We took the infamous cruise in March of 2019 in which we had to be evacuated.  (Old history now).  The main thing is we did get to see the northern lights, and it was near the time of the full moon.  What you will find is that the full moon can be both a help and a hinderance.  Remember clouds have more of an impact factor.  Overall, less light is better.  I am an amateur photographer and did get some very good pictures at that time, so I would not automatically dismiss going because of a full moon.  You did not say what month you are thinking about, as that can be far more important than the moon aspect.   Attached you will find one of my pictures.   JohnEB

Agreed, full moon does not equal automatically bad experience. Clouds are the number one issue and are “random”. One advantage of a full moon is that it lights up the landscape and gives you a more interesting picture.

 

Another factor is the time of moonrise and moon set. You will be very far north and the moon will not be up all night (most nights). What I did was plot moon phase, moon rise and moon set for each night to get a feel for the conditions. Keep in mind you will be gone for 2 weeks so if your criteria is a new moon while in Tromso there is probably only one date that fits that per year.

 

Long way of saying that moon phase is important but not the overriding factor. We ended up going during a full moon and had one night of spectacular lights (and a nearly full moon) and nearly two weeks of socked in clouds. Moon phase was irrelevant on the cloudy nights 🙂

[eylarson]

Stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, outside Fairbanks for three years.  Moon has no impact on northern lights visibility.  They can be truly wonderous when they are really active and dense across the sky.  

[johneb2]

14 hours ago, Paulhc said:

Agreed, full moon does not equal automatically bad experience. Clouds are the number one issue and are “random”. One advantage of a full moon is that it lights up the landscape and gives you a more interesting picture.

 

Another factor is the time of moonrise and moon set. You will be very far north and the moon will not be up all night (most nights). What I did was plot moon phase, moon rise and moon set for each night to get a feel for the conditions. Keep in mind you will be gone for 2 weeks so if your criteria is a new moon while in Tromso there is probably only one date that fits that per year.

 

Long way of saying that moon phase is important but not the overriding factor. We ended up going during a full moon and had one night of spectacular lights (and a nearly full moon) and nearly two weeks of socked in clouds. Moon phase was irrelevant on the cloudy nights 🙂

You are correct with the moon lighting up the landscape, which is how I was able to catch the picture I had attached to my original response.  It was taken one night while we were stopped enroute to Narwick.  Honestly, I did not find the moon an issue at all.  We found clouds to be more of an issue on some nights.  Most of all, to the poster, to observe the lights....dress warmly & have patience!  The lights vary dramatically in appearance, duration, and intensity.  The night I captured the picture mentioned happened after waiting almost two hours, and lasted for about 40 minutes, while on other nights nothing after two hours!   JohnEB