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The Northern Lights in Yellowknife Takashi Shii from Japan Photo: Takashi Shii I was stunned and just stood there with my mouth open. My host mother works for the government as a photographer and has taken lots of pictures of the aurora and arts and crafts. So she is a professional about pictures. Because she had two or three sets of cameras, she kindly lent me one and taught me how to use it. I clearly remember the sixth night in the Yellowknife. Suddenly my host mother came to my room around 8 p.m. and told me to change clothes and go outside quickly carrying her camera. The aurora borealis was flickering in the sky! I was stunned and just stood there with my mouth open. It was like ghosts like lots of myths and legends have said. I forgot to take pictures of the mysterious lights. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep at all that night. Since that night, whenever it was sunny, I went outside at night and looked at the sky. It was so cold that I lost all feeling in my hands and feet. Photo: Takashi Shii Most of the time I saw green northern lights. Occasionally, I saw pink or purple ones. Most of the time I saw green northern lights. Occasionally, I saw pink or purple ones. They sometimes moved so fast that I was unable to take pictures of the lights, for I needed a long exposure for that. Of course the exposure depended on the film I used, the brightness of the northern lights and the house lights around me. These elements made it difficult for me to take very good pictures. Additionally, the time of my being able to be out was limited. I had to bring her camera back to house in one hour at the most, for the camera was going to be broken because of the cold temperature. The coldest temperature which I experienced was 45 degrees below zero. Unfortunately, whenever I had to go inside the house, great northern lights were flickering in the sky. As I took the pictures of the northern lights, I came to find a characteristic movement of the lights. They first appear in the north part of the sky and then they gradually come down to the south part of the sky. After that, suddenly, they come right in the middle of the north and south only for a while, which is the time when the best northern lights can be seen. Therefore, I often went out when the northern lights are located in the southrn part of the sky and waited for the best northern lights. Since it is only a few seconds for the northern lights to come down to the middle of the sky, it is very hard to get good pictures. The year 1997, when I went to this province, was not supposed to be the year when I was able to see the good northern lights because the northern lights have strong attachment with sun movement or its 11 year-cycle. 1991 was the year when red northern lights, which is rare in the Yellow Knife, was observed. The stronger the sun acts, the better and strong northern lights flicker in the sky. That's because they occur from the collision between atmospheric gases and solar wind. Much more solar wind comes to the earth when sun is active, which lead to the best northern lights. And the colors of the northern lights depend on the height of the collisions and kinds of gases. So, the next best northern lights should be seen in 2002. Even though the year 1997 was sort of in the middle of 1991 and 2002, I think I was lucky that I was able to see good northern lights even though I didn't see red northern lights. More about Takashi's Arctic Experiences: A Dog Sled Ride and Traditional Ways | Volunteer Work with Children My Life in the Northwest Territories Return to: My Arctic Experiences | Issue 4 | Home Page TOPICS Online Magazine - ©1997-2007- Sandy and Thomas Peters - topics.mag@gmail.com