A WITNESS TO THE YUKON WONDER
Solar maximum is expected soon and Canada is one of the best places to experience the light show
Every Saturday night in winter, staff and guests at Southern Lakes Resort in the Yukon join in a game of shinny on a makeshift rink on the lake directly below the resort.
As I stood at the edge of the rink watching players throw their mitts on the ice to divide up the teams, one of the players pointed up at the sky directly behind me. I turned around and saw the glowing green lights of the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights. The rest of the players glanced up quickly and then got on with the game. When you live directly under the auroral oval, you might take auroral activity for granted, but I was mesmerized by the magical lights dancing across the sky.
Northern lights viewing is as Canadian as hockey. Most of the world's best aurora-viewing land base is in Canada. The auroral oval is the region with the greatest geomagnetic activity and the brightest and most frequent auroral displays. Between 80 to 90 per cent of the accessible land inside the Northern Hemisphere's auroral oval lies in Canada. A combination of northern latitude and low light pollution makes the Canadian regions that lie under the auroral oval some of the best places on the planet to view the northern lights.
During a recent six-day trip to the Yukon, I saw the northern lights twice, but others who were willing to stay up later saw them three times. It's hard to say what might have happened if I had stayed up late every night of the trip.
On the shuttle bus from a Whitehorse hotel to the airport, I met Vivian and Ed from Australia, who came to Canada specifically to see the aurora borealis.
“We saw the aurora three times and it was incredible,” Vivian excitedly said. “We walked out on a frozen lake and saw the northern lights shining in the sky above us.” They also went dogsledding and snowmobiling. They both agreed that seeing the northern lights in Canada was an experience of a lifetime.
LEGENDS OF THE LIGHTS
For thousands of years, people have viewed the northern lights in wonder and tried to explain them. Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei gave the phenomenon its accepted scientific name. He called it aurora borealis after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek god of the north wind, Boreas. But long before Galileo gave the lights a name, Indigenous peoples gave them names in their own language and created legends to explain them.
One of my favourite legends relating to the northern lights was shared by James Allen, an Elder and former chief from the local Champagne and Aishihik First Nation in the Yukon. On a previous visit to the Yukon, I enjoyed a storytelling experience where Allen shared the Southern Tutchone legend about the aurora borealis. “There are many legends about the northern lights,” he explained. “Our story is that the northern lights are a message from ancestors who have passed on. They dance in the Spirit World to let us know they are happy there.”
I have thought about this legend many times since I first heard it. I hope there is an afterlife and that my grandparents and others I love who have passed on are happy there. Every time I witness the northern lights dancing across an inky black sky, I imagine my grandparents dancing.
WHAT CAUSES AN AURORA?
The aurora borealis is caused when the sun blasts charged particles, also known as solar wind, into space. These charged particles collide with Earth's atmosphere and are funnelled toward the geomagnetic poles. When the charged particles collide with gases in the upper atmosphere, the collisions produce tiny flashes of colourful light.
Auroral activity is most pronounced in the regions inside the auroral oval surrounding the geomagnetic poles.
Auroral activity is dependent upon solar activity and solar activity is highest during solar maximum. During solar maximum, you can expect to see more frequent and brighter northern lights. Scientists are currently predicting that solar maximum will occur between late 2024 and early 2026.
The sun's activity is somewhat predictable, because its magnetic field goes through a regular cycle approximately every 11 years. Solar maximum occurs at the midpoint of the solar cycle. The challenge in predicting solar maximum comes in the fact that a solar cycle can vary in length from 11 to 14 years and we won't know when solar maximum actually hits after it has happened.
HOW TO PLAN AN AURORA VIEWING TRIP IN CANADA
You can see the northern lights at any time in the solar cycle, but the weeks and months surrounding solar maximum are marked by phenomenal auroral displays. There's no better time than now to plan an aurora viewing trip.
When: Mid-august to mid-april are the best months for aurora viewing and the best displays typically occur between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. You need dark skies to see an aurora and skies don't get dark in the peak summer months in many destinations inside the auroral oval. The Yukon is known as “the land of the midnight sun,” because of the long daylight hours in the summer months.
Where: Regions inside the auroral oval typically have the most frequent and most intense auroral activity. In Canada this includes regions of the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik, Northern Manitoba and Labrador.
Enjoy the experience: You may book an aurora-viewing trip and not see an aurora. This can happen when clouds obscure views or when there isn't as much solar activity. If you take the time to experience the culture of the place, meet northerners and enjoy local activities and experiences, the trip will be a success.
More information about visiting the Yukon: travelyukon.com Debbie Olsen is an award-winning Métis writer and a national bestselling author. Follow her adventures at wanderwoman.ca.