Expedition Route
Sodankylä 
Soaöegilli
Location: 67.4° N 26.6° E
Country: Finland
Go there with Google Maps >>
Sodankylä means 'under the lucky stars' in the language of the Native Sámi people. This area is one of the oldest Sámi settlements, and today it is one of the most densely populated areas of the region with about 10.000 residents.
The town is located near the beautiful banks of the river Kitinen, 75 miles (120 km) north of the Arctic Circle. There are two official languages - Finnish and northern Sámi (one of ten dialects). Since 1996 Sodankylä has been the home of the Midnight Sun Film Festival. The time of the actual midnight sun when the sun never sets last days of May to mid July. The polar night when the sun never rises above the horizon lasts from about 19th to 25th of December. The mean temperature in January is 6°F (-14°C) and in July 59°F (+15°C). The snow cover here usually lasts from end of October to mid May. In average there is an astonishing 150 nights of auroral displays per year so if you have clear skis the likelihood aurora borealis around the equinoxes is very high. Traditionally the Sámi said northern lights to be the heavenly effect of a fox running on the snow, sweeping its tail so the sparks fly off into the sky.
Sodankyla has a strong tradition in the study of science. It was here that the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters established a geophysical observatory in 1913. Today, just outside of town is a scientific radar receiver station at the site of Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, which also houses that renowned Northern Lights Observatory.
Check out the real time 'all sky camera' from the observatory >>
Watch northern lights >>
Look at a slide show of the northern lights>>
Image courtesy of: http://www.spaceweather.com/
