The lights have been around since the earth formed its
atmosphere and the times of dinosaurs and early man. But
they are only viewable beneath the Auroral Oval, a continuous
oval-zone of energy-charged particles that encircle the mag- netic
North Pole. The Aurora borealis display is at its very best and
most intense, in the Northwest Territories, where we sit directly beneath this
amazing
SLIDE SHOW
Auroral Oval. Here at the lodge, near
Yellowknife NWT, we boast over 240 potential Aurora-viewing days, when the solar winds are at their most
active and the
clear, dark nights
of the subarctic make the very best backdrop for these ghostly shows of dancing light.
3, 6, 8 DAY NORTHERN LIGHTS PACKAGES
AURORA FACTS What is the Aurora?
The sun gives off high-energy charged
particles (also called ions) that travel
out into space at speeds of 300 to
1200 kilometres per second. A cloud
of such particles is called a plasma.
The stream of plasma coming from the
sun is known as the solar wind. As the
solar wind interacts with the edge of
the earth's magnetic field, some of the
particles are trapped by it and they
follow the lines of magnetic force
down into the ionosphere (the section
of the earth's atmosphere that extends
from about 60 to 600 kilometres
above the earth's surface, where the Lights are visible).
When the
particles collide with the gases in the
ionosphere they start to glow, producing
the spectacle that we know as the
auroras.The array of colours consists
of red, green, blue and violet. The
most common Colour is a ghostly
green, given off by oxygen atoms.
Oxygen is also responsible for the
brownish red colour. Auroras that are
very intense, often have purple edges,
that are caused by a red and blue
mixture of nitrogen emissions.
The Northern Lights are constantly in
motion because of the changing
interaction between the solar wind
and the earth's magnetic field.
It is not possible to predict auroral
activity very far in advance, but if the
weather is clear, chances are pretty
good that you will see Aurora Borealis
in the Northwest Territories between
September and early April, but is at its
most vivid from December to March
when the nights are the longest, and
the sky its very darkest.
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES CANADA 
The lights have been around since the earth formed its
atmosphere and the times of dinosaurs and early man. But
they are only viewable beneath the Auroral Oval, a continuous
oval-zone of energy-charged particles that encircle the mag-
