Buzz
Thanks to daring adventurers and cutting-edge video technology, you can now watch the northern lights dance across the starry skies on YouTube anytime. However, witnessing it live creates a sense of awe that's hard to match.
Since a trip to the Arctic is beyond reach for many (and not recommended during a pandemic), explore.org has teamed up with Polar Bears International to bring us the ultimate alternative: a northern lights livestream. Positioned at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, near the shores of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada, the camera is set up in the ideal location right beneath the aurora oval—a prime viewing area for the spectacular aurora borealis, which means 'northern dawn.'
As The A.V. Club reports, if you're watching during the day, you'll mostly see a vast sky above the evergreens. However, once night falls, the northern lights are expected to appear. According to Mashable, the best time to catch the show is between 10:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. EST, especially in February and March, when the chances of cloud cover are lower. But don't worry if you miss that two-month window—Polar Bears International executive director Krista Wright shared with Mashable that the town of Churchill experiences the aurora borealis for over 300 nights annually.
The northern lights webcam, set up in 2012, is part of a collection of nature-focused webcams managed by explore.org. If the dazzling neon lights aren't quite your thing, perhaps watching a bald eagle resting in its nest or sea lions making a ruckus will capture your interest. You can explore these and more livestreams here.
