Yugra Enters Top-10 Regions for Aurora Borealis Hunters
Residents of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug have become interested in the northern lights. High solar activity has allowed the natural phenomenon to be observed not only in traditional northern regions but also at mid-latitudes. Yugra residents took advantage of the favorable conditions and began to more actively monitor resources where the «breath of the polar night» can be seen in real time. As a result, traffic to such sites in December–January grew 4.5 times compared to last year.
This conclusion was reached by Megafon, a Russian telecommunications provider, after studying anonymized traffic. The analysts« research showed which regions are interested in the northern lights more than others. The top ten also included Murmansk Oblast, Karelia, the Komi Republic, Moscow and Moscow Oblast, St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast.
Yugra took eighth place in the top 10. The biggest traffic spike among Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug residents was on platforms with interactive maps that show activity indices, the movement of the northern lights, and the probability of their appearance.
The most popular days for observations were the periods of powerful solar flares in mid-November. At that time, residents of the okrug increased data volume on the resources by six times. The second spike of interest occurred during the New Year holidays. During the holidays, residents went on trips to see with their own eyes how the sky flashes with green, purple, and pink waves.
«Thanks to mobile internet, Yugra residents can track unique natural phenomena remotely, and also prepare to capture them in person in advance thanks to interactive maps. We strive to ensure that distances are not an obstacle, actively develop the network, and provide 4G access in the region. Thus, over the past year, our specialists have built and modernized more than 160 telecom facilities in large cities and small settlements,» explained Dmitry Melikhov, the operator«s director in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.
To see the atmospheric phenomenon with their own eyes, Yugra residents most often travel to Murmansk Oblast. The region is chosen by 62% of northern lights hunters. In addition to the regional center, the village of Teriberka on the coast of the Barents Sea and the settlement of Pechenga are popular, where there is no city light, but there are ideal conditions for observations.
In second place in terms of demand is Arkhangelsk Oblast. Here, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug residents choose the settlement of Golubino and the village of Verkola, which is on the list of the most beautiful villages in Russia. In these settlements, free from «light noise,» the celestial flares are visible especially brightly.
