The Aurora Oval is the term for the narrow, magnetically charged band that circles the polar hemispheres and is the region where the aurora borealis are at their most brilliant. This 'halo' can have a diameter of about four thousand kilometers. However, it can be as large as six thousand or as small as three thousand kilometers in diameter. Yellowknife is situated directly below this spectacular belt of aurora!

The Aurora Borealis occurs continuously year round. However, is only visible to viewers at night.

The best viewing times are as follows:

Winter Aurora Viewing is:
November 20th, 2001 to March 15th, 2002.

Spring Aurora Viewing is:
March 16th, 2002 to April 20th, 2002.

Summer/Fall Aurora Viewing Season is
August 1st, 2002 to September 30th, 2002.

*This is due to the following weather factors. From May until Mid-August, the northern latitudes experience too much daylight to view the aurora activity (even though it is still occurring). Yellowknife is referred to the ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’ in the summer months. In October and early November is when the snow falls and the sky is generally cloudy.

Yellowknife is one of the best places in the world to view the aurora due to its location directly under the Aurora Oval and its clear, cold nights.

This causes an Aurora Oval which is the term for the narrow band of aurora the circles the Northern Hemisphere. This ‘halo’ can have a diameter of about four thousand kilometers. However, it can be as large as six thousand or as small as three thousand.

The aurora is higher in the atmosphere than the highest jet plane flies. The lowest fringes are at least 60 kilometers above the Earth, while the uppermost reaches of the aurora extend 900 kilometers above the Earth. The space shuttle flies near 480 kilometers altitude.

Each atmospheric gas glows with a particular color, depending on its electrical state and on the energy of the particle that hits the atmospheric gas. High-altitude oxygen, about 200 miles up, is the source of the rare, all-red auroras. Oxygen at lower altitudes, about 60 miles up, produces a brilliant yellow-green, the brightest and most common aurora color. Ionized nitrogen molecules produce blue light; neutral nitrogen glows red. The nitrogen molecules create the purplish-red lower borders and ripple edges of the aurora.

The aurora typically starts as a faint band (that may be white in colour) and then this band slowly stretches across the sky. Usually around midnight, this band intensifies, then begins to glow with a greenish color and finally starts to move creating a curtain effect. If there is a lot of solar activity present, a strong aurora will appear with fast flowing movements that seem to dance across the sky. This process could occur several times during the night and last for various periods of time. The result is a fantastic light show for the observer to view.

Raven Tours clients have experienced a 96% Aurora Viewing success rate when booking 3 consecutive nights. This is consistent for both the winter and summer/fall aurora viewing seasons.

Italian astronomers were the first to describe the lights and named them ‘Aurora Borealis’. Aurora was the name of the Roman ‘Goddess of Morning’.