WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 57most part) checks off many of the boxes for
other criteria you would want to consider
in selecting a place to capture the northern
lights: its levels of light pollution, its geog-
raphy, and the overall weather.
Given its remoteness, Yellowknife has
very dark skies once you venture away
from the town itself. A 30-minute drive
will get you far enough away from light
pollution to have excellent sky conditions.
The darker the sky, the more the aurorae
will stand out against the inky blackness.
That said, even in town, the northern lights
often glow bright enough to be easily seen,
albeit with reduced contrast against the
background sky. From a geological and
topographical perspective,
the area is fairly flat and dot-
ted with a multitude of lakes
left over from the retreat of
ice-age glaciers. This is impor-
tant because aurorae can appear
almost anywhere in the sky, and
with no large mountains obstructing
the view, you can take in a broad expanse
of the heavens.
The lakes are a huge benefit from
January through March because they are
frozen over to a thickness that allows you
to drive across them. Being in the middle
of a lake eliminates everything that might
block your view of what’s going on above.ABOVE: A frozen lake is a
prime location to capture the
shimmering glow of aurorae,
as the landscape is largely
free of obstructions.Early on New Year’s Day 2016 (UT), aurorae hunters
across the northern United States and Canada were
treated to a spectacular show when the auroral oval
expanded south and intensified. NOAA/NASAProbability of visible auroraeYellowknife10% 50% 90%