# Travel >> Types of Travel >> Adventure Travel

How to View the Southern Lights

The southern lights, also called the aurora australis or southern polar lights, are the Southern Hemisphere's Antarctic counterpart to the Northern Hemisphere's Arctic northern lights, or aurora borealis. Much less land actually extends into the higher latitudes of the southern hemisphere compared to the northern hemisphere. As a result, there are relatively few areas on land from which to view the southern lights, with the exception of the difficult-to-reach continent of Antarctica itself. Most of these viewing areas are quite remote and require a long journey to reach.

airline tickets
lodging reservations
cold weather clothing
backup plan

Instructions

Trip planning
- 1
  Use the long-term aurora forecast, which is only for 28 days into the future, from the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. This will allow you to plan a trip to view the southern lights when the forecast for aurora australis is expected to be active for accessible areas.
- 2
  Book airline tickets to the chosen destination. Depending on the long-term forecast, this may be on the southern tip of South America, along southern Australia, Tasmania, Macquarie Island, the southern area of the southern island of New Zealand, or the southern coast of South Africa. If finances and educational and government contacts permit, it may even be on Antarctica itself.
- 3
  Reserve lodging accommodations in the selected destination. Lodging that features an available Internet connection is preferable in order to check the main aurora forecast, the local weather forecast, and the short-term aurora forecast.
On location
- 4
  Use the main aurora forecast, which is three to nine days out, from the Geophysical Institute to plan for specific southern lights viewing nights.
- 5
  Combine the main aurora forecast with a local area weather report to plan the most optimal viewing nights with the most chance of witnessing aurora australis activity.
- 6
  Use the short-term aurora forecast from the Geophysical Institute, which is based on solar wind data from a satellite positioned one hour closer to the sun along the solar wind stream, to know when the strongest displays of aurora australis activity are one hour away.