Jaguar Land Rover

Hunting northern lights

With aurora borealis expert Dr. Esa Turunen, we head in search of the natural phenomenon, in a Jaguar F-PACE.

For the Jaguar Owners Club, photographer Philip Bruederle and cinematographer Julian Jankowski went on a journey to the Northern Arctic Circle, past the Finnish city of Rovaniemi, to produce an impressive series of images and video.

In Finland, during the winter, it gets dark around 3pm, and the bitter cold – below minus 15°C – requires constant breaks to warm up. But our team did not let the extreme conditions stop them, and the Jaguar F-PACE proved a handy companion during our interview of space physicist Dr. Turunen. The preheated driver's cabin enabled us to record the voiceover for the video in comfort. And in any case, after the expert on the famous Northern Lights had taken the premium SUV for a spin, he was so enthused he wanted to stay inside and keep driving it.

During the shoot in Lapland, the team created an extraordinary story about this fascinating natural phenomenon, with insights into Dr. Turunen's everyday life as an aurora hunter and his work at the Sodankylä geophysical observatory. An excerpt from the story:

"We are now far from civilisation, and stop at a clearing. 'A secluded place is important,' explains Dr. Turunen. That's where the probability of clear skies, unaffected by artificial light pollution, is highest. We get out and stare up expectantly. The F-PACE's red taillights are the only source of light in the dark. Then green bands of light slowly grope their way behind the gentle clouds, growing stronger, dancing over the horizon. We can't take our eyes off the dazzling lights that look as if they were painted on the sky. Who would have thought that fluorescent air molecules could be so beautiful?"

  • Close-up of the steering wheel of the Jaguar F-PACE
  • Snow-covered forest in Finland at sunset
  • Space physicist Dr. Esa Turunen explains the origin of northern lights
  • Person with white cloth gloves holds scientific record of sighting of northern lights
  • Hands with white cloth gloves touching scientific record of Northern Lights Storm 1974
  • Radar antenna of the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory

"The northern lights - also known as aurora borealis - are created when electrically charged particles from the sun meet gas particles in the atmosphere. When they come into contact with oxygen, they glow green; with nitrogen, they glow red or blue."

Dr. Esa Turunen

The result of the shoot: an inspiring story about the origin of the Northern Lights and what to look out for when hunting the aurora borealis, and an atmospheric photo series and video published on the Jaguar Owners Club website.

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