Where can you see the northern lights in Yukon Canada?
Question by : Where can you see the northern lights in Yukon Canada?
I am planning a trip to Yukon… can you see the Northern Lights there? Where?
Best answer:
Answer by capitalgentleman
Anywhere. A week ago they covered about 1/2 the sky one morning. There is a pretty good prediction system in Alaska that shows the likelihood, and where to go.
http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/
This shows that Dawson would be good, although I did not see them this morning, despite it being clear (and super COLD!). But, the moon is approaching full as well. The trouble is that there are not that many clear nights, and those that are see temperatures in the minus 40′s C (minus 50′s F), not exactly nice for viewing!
March seems to be the best month, although no-one knows why; they are caused by the sun, and the sun doesn’t know when it is March here! But, we are only just now coming out of the solar minimum cycle, so, they will not be all that visible for a few years.
Add your own answer in the comments!
Among the fairly easy-to-get-to places, probably the best location in the Yukon is Dawson City. There is turbo prop service all year (but not every day) from Whitehorse.
http://www.flyairnorth.com/
http://www.martingrumet.com/canada16jan09-07dawson1500.jpg
It is a short walk to the edge of town away from the city lights. One hotel is open in winter.
http://www.martingrumet.com/canada16jan09-09dawson1500.jpg
Auroral activity can sometimes be visible from Whitehorse, but it is further from the zone of highest activity, and mild nights will be duds.
Yellowknife, Northwest Territoriies is a popular location for aurora watching.
To see the zone, go to this page
http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/
Select the North America view and then reload the page.
Here is a picture of auroral activity from the north end of Dawson City:
http://www.martingrumet.com/canada17jan09-01dawson1500.jpg
Here is a picture of auroral activity from Frame Lake in Yellowknife:
http://www.martingrumet.com/canada08jan08-03yellowknife1500.jpg
You will not be able to see the northern lights in summer. Although the sun sets, there is midnight twilight drowning it out.
The camera’s 15 second exposure does look a bit different from what the eye sees. In mild activity you are using more of your monochromatic night vision sensor cells, and color will look faint. Also the eye and brain compensate for the white balance of the scattered city light, which looks orange to the camera.
Mostly up in the sky. It doesn’t really matter WHERE you are in the Yukon, it’s WHEN you are there, and WHAT the atmospheric conditions are like. There aren’t northern lights every night – just when the atmospherics are right.