The Recherche expedition

The choice of Halde as the location for the observatory was no coincidence. Alta is known to be one of the best places to study the Northern Lights, and it was particularly the pioneering research of the French Recherche expedition in 1838-1839 that made the area attractive to Northern Lights researchers. The researchers built small log cabins near Bossekop and their detailed illustrations of the Northern Lights made Alta famous throughout Europe.