Ice Road Truckers

Aurora Borealis

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The Aurora Borealis, also called the Northern Lights, is a display of flickering, glowing light that appears in the nighttime northern sky. The multi-colored luminous lines and shapes that seem to dance across the sky are often referred to as "nature's light show." The name aurora is the Latin word for dawn and refers to the Roman goddess of the dawn, while borealis comes from the name of the Greek god of the north wind, boreas. A similar occurrence that takes place over the southern sky is known as the Aurora Australis.

The Aurora Borealis went unexplained for years, and both inspired and frightened early peoples. Today, it is known that the phenomenon occurs when an excess of charged particles from the Sun, often caused by solar flares, streams into Earth's atmosphere. The particles are sent toward Earth's poles, where they collide with gas particles that then emit light, causing a glow high in the atmosphere.

The Northern Lights can take on a variety of forms including arcs, vertical bands, low-hanging clouds, fans and flames. The shapes can be relatively still or in constant motion and come in a multitude of colors, most often white, yellow and red. The best place to see the aurora borealis is at about 20 degrees from the North Pole, though it is visible across the northern part of North America and Eastern Europe, and has sometimes been seen as far south as Key West, Florida.

The Earth is not the only planet to host such light shows: Auroras have also been observed in Jupiter's atmosphere.

The Aurora Borealis in Yellowknife

While the aurora borealis can be seen all year long in Canada, the most likely time to view it is in the fall and winter months, when nights are longer and, unfortunately for unseasoned tourists, temperatures are colder. Because of its location near 62° latitude, 114° longitude, where the most frequent and brilliant manifestations of the Northern Lights occur, many people consider Yellowknife to be the best place in the world for viewing the aurora. Thousands of visitors brave the cold each year for a chance at seeing the show.

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