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Having just returned from that very trip it's easy to see why. Seeing the Aurora Borealis is certainly one of those things that make you feel like you've witnessed something truly remarkable.

As producer of Newstalk's science show Futureproof, I was travelling to Norway with the show's host Jonathan McCrea and videographer Matthieu Chardon. Our job was to capture this spectacular light show for radio and on film.

Galileo first coined the term Aurora Borealis, translating as The Red Dawn of the North after seeing them in Northern Italy. Down through the years many myths grew around the Northern Lights with primitive cultures seeing them as some manifestation of a God or Gods and even as spirits of the dead. To this day there are still traditions associated with the phenomenon such as—never wave or whistle while looking at them.

Of course, scientifically speaking, we now know exactly what causes these striking flashes of green and yellow in the night sky.

It all starts with the sun. Violent nuclear activity within the sun causes electrical currents of charged gas to create a magnetic field on its surface. This charged gas called plasma drags and twists the field out from the sun until it actually snaps. The plasma then goes thrashing and dancing towards Earth and smashes into the atmosphere at both poles. It’s like a solar storm.  What you see when the lights appear is a collision of electrons in the solar wind with atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere. The electricity in the wind is converted into magnificent light.

Futureproof were based in Tromso, Norway. Photo: Matthieu Chardon / http://communicorpdigital.com

The Northern Lights occur most frequently in a radius of 2,500km around the North Pole. So the areas to see them are obviously in Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, northern Canada and Alaska. They can be glimpsed further North or South but the chances start to decrease the further you leave the radius of the pole.

To attempt to see the lights you must go north, and you must go in January in order to get a good chance of viewing. There’s no guarantee that you'll see the lights as the conditions need to be right. Most notably, there must not be any cloud cover. Hence those who go in search of them are called 'light chasers'.

Organised with thanks to Project-Travel.ie—Ireland’s only specialist for Norway and Northern Lights holidays—our team of three travelled to our base at Tromso in the Arctic Circle.

Far from being some icy outpost, Tromso is Norway's ninth largest city and a bustling hub situated on a river. It's generally agreed by Northern Lights chasers that it's one of the best places in the world to see the Aurora. It's also a town that prides itself on having the ‘most northerly’ things in the world. For instance it boasts the most northerly brewery in the world and the most northerly Lutheran Church in the world. In fact while we were there a film festival dedicated to movies made in the northerly parts of the world was in progress. The keyword here is 'north'.

Stunning images of Aurora Borealis. Photo: Matthieu Chardon / http://communicorpdigital.com

Tromso is also a city that was experiencing polar night, so the sun was below the horizon and we were in the dark. However, that darkness would hopefully make the Aurora Borealis all the brighter.

One might think that spending part of the year with no sun would make people in this part of the world prone to dour moods. But it seems that the residents of Tromso have embraced this darkness and ran with it. Those we met explained to us that this time of year is thriving with festivals and trips for children. It’s as if they literally stare into the darkness and say, “You’re not getting the better of us”—a lesson to be learned.

Much of northern Norway has seen a huge increase in the number of tourists coming to see the lights in the last few years. Just about everyone agrees on the cause of this upsurge: actress Joanna Lumley! In 2008, Lumley made a BBC documentary about her search for the Northern Lights and in her own inimitable way, according to the locals, portrayed them as a Wonder of the World.

Stunning images of Aurora Borealis. Photo: Matthieu Chardon / http://communicorpdigital.com

En route to find the lights we were lucky to avail of a couple other thrilling experiences. One of those was husky sledding. Our guide for the day was an adventurer by the name of Tore Albrigtsen. He was what you might call the real deal—a bona fide Norwegian wilderness guide. Tore previously skied across Greenland and once saved the life of an Irish mountaineer in the Andes. So depending on your point of view he was the right man to take us on a husky ride.

The ride was exhilarating. Tore explained how the dogs have a distinct role in the line of huskies that pull you—some are 'leads' and others are 'swings'. They really are amazing creatures and such is their sense of direction that all a human has to do is essentially stand on the sled. Speeding through the snow covered mountain trails pulled by a trusty husky is a unique and brilliant feeling.

Watch Futureproof go dog sledding. Video: Matthieu Chardon

Another captivating event was being on a boat that allowed us to see humpback whales from 10 metres away. Norway has not traditionally been a spot for whale watching, but due to unexplained migrations of herring to feed around the Norwegian Fjords the large mammals are making their way here too.

Just like the Northern Lights you aren't guaranteed a sighting but thankfully the whales were feeling social and we were surrounded by them. Norway is the only place in the world where killer whales and humpbacks co-exist and here they were on either side of our boat. It was truly incredible.

Watch Futureproof go whale watching. Video: Matthieu Chardon

But the huskies and the whales weren’t why we were here in -20 degrees Celsius. We were hunting big fish… well, lights actually.

Hunting the Aurora Borealis involves a lot of patience. You might be staring at the sky for hours and you could end up disappointed. Our guide brought us to a fjord outside Tromso. We all set up our cameras and recording equipment. We waited and waited. A thin wisp of green in a small part of the sky appeared. It was a little underwhelming, we all agreed.

After about two hours we moved to a higher spot up a snowy mountain. At about 1.30 am we were packing up our belongings and telling each other we’d have to come back. All we’d seen was a little green light slightly stretching in the sky.

Just then the heavens literally came alive. From one side to the other was full of lights, lights that were swirling and dancing. It truly was a cosmic dance. Vivid green lights, with hues of yellow, burst across the sky. The cosmic dance was kicking off big time. Charged particles from the sun were smashing into the earth’s atmosphere and the resulting lights were tremendous.

Watch Futureproof hunt the Aurora Borealis. Video: Matthieu Chardon

We were all mesmerized and overwhelmed. As we looked up at the sheer magic we all uttered something along the lines of, “Whoa, this is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life”. In my own head I couldn’t help but think of my own 18-month-old son fast asleep at home and wish that he too could stare up at this wondrous sight. But I was also heartened to think that these skies also belonged to him and indeed everybody else. The Northern Lights, when in full bloom, would make even the most material-minded person an instant lover of nature.

It’s one of those sights that you can’t help but be overawed by. So many of the things we go to see often tend to be a little disappointing when you finally get up close; e.g. Niagara Falls, the Eiffel Tower. The Northern Lights is not one of those things.

Exhausted and elated we were back in the van at 4am. Driving back and seeing the man-made lights of Tromso, we all knew we had just witnessed one of the Wonders of the World. 

Go see the light as soon as you can.

Listen to Futureproof’s Northern Lights Special programme

This trip was organised in partnership with Visit Tromso. For more information, go here: www.visittromso.no/en

This article originally appeared in Newstalk Magazine for iPad in February, for more details go here.