Aurora Viewing Tours

Folklore is abound with stories of the origins of these spellbinding celestial lights. In Finnish they are called “revontulet”, which means “fox fires”, a name derived from an ancient fable of the arctic fox starting fires or spraying up snow with its brush-like tail.

The true story is that the sun is the source of the auroras. 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. When the particles collide with the gases in the ionosphere they start to glow, producing the spectacle that we know as the auroras, northern and southern. The array of colours consists of red, green, blue and violet. The Northern Lights are constantly in motion because of the changing interaction between the solar wind and the earth’s magnetic field. The solar wind commonly generates up to 1 000 000 megawatts of electricity in an aurora display and this can cause interference with power lines, radio and television broadcasts and satellite communications. By studying the auroras, scientists can learn more about the solar wind, how it affects the earth’s atmosphere and how the energy of the auroras might be exploited for useful purposes.

The Aurora Borealis is one of the most beautiful natural phenomena one can experience and chances are excellent that you will see it if you come for a visit to the Yukon in the winter. If you are only in town for a short time, take advantage of our beautiful Northern Lights centre, only 20 minutes out of town.  Located up in the vast expanse of Fish Lake, with no artificial lights around – providing perfect viewing conditions! We offer tours every evening and while it is cold and crisp outside, our authentic yurt will keep you warm and cozy.

We will pick you up at your hotel in Whitehorse and take you to the viewing centre. Pick up time is 9:30-9:55pm. While at the site, we will serve hot drinks, a light snack and share some of the folklore surrounding the Aurora with you. By 2:00 am, you will be back at your hotel still captured by the beauty of the Northern Lights.