One of the seven natural wonders of the world, the Auroras are an elusive sight. One that I got to see recently and am still in awe! Auroras can be seen in both the northern and southern hemisphere, but they have different names. The Aurora Borealis (or the Northern Lights) are seen in the northern hemisphere and the Aurora Australis (or the Southern Lights) are seen in the southern hemisphere. They are both from the same natural phenomenon and artistically light up the night sky. You can see them dancing in the sky and it’s magical! Read on for everything you need to know about seeing the Northern Lights in Yellowknife.
Let’s get into the science. The natural phenomenon is from disturbances in the Earth’s magnetosphere caused by the solar wind. Major disturbances result from enhancements in the speed of the solar wind from coronal holes and coronal mass ejections. These disturbances alter the trajectories of charged particles in the magnetospheric plasma. These particles precipitate into the upper atmosphere, resulting in the ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emit light of varying colour and complexity.
While I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of photos and videos on the web, it’s important to note you cannot see them like this in person. The auroras are not nearly as vibrant to the naked eye since our eyes do not see well in low light. Cameras and our phones, on the other hand, can capture so much more light in one image than what our eyes can see. When the aurora is more active, you can see the lights dancing in the sky and a faint green or pink hue. However, when the aurora isn’t as active, it may just look like light grey streaks in the sky. So, while the photos in this blog post are very minimally edited, they still don’t look this vibrant in person. It’s not fake! We just can’t see colours the same way cameras do.
Table of Contents
- What’s the best way to find the Northern Lights in Yellowknife?
- Yellowknife Aurora Tours
- When is the best time of year to see the Northern Lights?
- The Best Time of Night to Spot the Northern Lights
- What Are the Chances of Seeing the Aurora Borealis in the Northwest Territories?
- Essential Packing List for Aurora Chasing
- Northern Lights Photography Tips
- Northern Lights Video Tips
- Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the best way to find the Northern Lights in Yellowknife?
There are two ways to see the Northern Lights in Yellowknife: find a tour group or rent a car yourself! Now, unless you are an aurora expert, I recommend finding a tour company to explore with. It’s nice to have someone drive you around while they try to find a clear sky. In Yellowknife, most tour companies also offer professional photos included in the tour price. While the newer phones can shoot in night mode and pickup the aurora, a professional camera just does a better job. All the landscape photos in this post are from the tour company, and the portrait photos are from my phone!
Be wary of companies that claim they see the lights almost every night. While this is technically true, one of our nights you could only see the lights with your phone but *technically* the tour company got photos of the lights so they count it.
In addition, most tour groups are owned and operated by small, local companies, so they may not be the most responsive. Because of this, I recommend pre-booking your tour!
If you want to rent a car and drive yourself, you’re going to want to download a few apps to find them. The Aurora App is a great tool that also notifies you if you have a chance of seeing the lights. Yellowknife is a city, so there is a lot more light pollution around the city. Not only do you want to get out of the city for clear, dark skies, you also have a very high chance of seeing the lights if you can find a clear night sky. It is highly likely that it will be cloudy in Yellowknife, but if you drive outside the city the sky may be clear!
Yellowknife Aurora Tours
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When is the best time of year to see the Northern Lights?
In Yellowknife, your best chances of seeing the lights are March and September. You’ll still get dark nights, but there isn’t as much precipitation (snow) in these months so you have a higher chance of having clear nights. We went in November without realizing it’s one of the worst months to see them – but we still saw them 2 out of 4 nights!
The Best Time of Night to Spot the Northern Lights
Typically, the lights are brightest when the sky is darkest – so between midnight and 4 am. This also depends on the time of year, but you can expect to see them at their brightest in the middle of the night.
So, if you book a tour, be aware that pickup is usually closer to 8-10 pm, and you might not get back to your hotel until 3-4 am! Our later nights were the ones where we didn’t get to see the lights, because the tour guide was driving around trying to find them for us! In November, we saw them mostly clearly between midnight and 2 am.
What Are the Chances of Seeing the Aurora Borealis in the Northwest Territories?
If you see stars, you have a 99% chance of seeing the lights in the Northwest Territories. If you don’t see stars then it’s too cloudy and you have a 0% chance of seeing them. Like I said, an elusive phenomenon! Because of this, I recommend going out at least a few nights in a row to have the best chance of seeing them.
Essential Packing List for Aurora Chasing
Dress warmly. The best months to see the lights are between late August and early April. It’s COLD in the winter – very windy and is colder at night. Here’s a suggest packing list.
- A warm parka that is rated for -20C or -30C is best. I love Rudsak for warm, stylish outerwear and you can get a deal at the end of a season. If you don’t live somewhere where it regularly goes below freezing, it’s probably not worth it to invest in a warm jacket. So, take note of which tour operators offer rental equipment and go with them!
- Warm boots are key for standing outside in the cold for hours. I have the Keen Revel Boots for snowshoeing and they were great! The only day my feet were cold was standing on a frozen lake to go dog sledding in -30C weather.
- Wool socks are best. I had to double up with the Darn Tough ones I use.
- Warm base layers. This Merino Wool set from Knix was a lifesaver for me!
- A hat, mitts, and a scarf.
- If you can, bright colours like bright blue, yellow, or red, stand out best in the photos!
- You can pick up these hand and feet warmers to stay toasty all night!
Many tour companies offer winter rentals for jackets, snowpants and boots! It’s a great idea if you don’t have warm gear and/or don’t want to travel with the gear required to be warm outdoors. We saw a lot of bright blue, red and black Canada Goose jackets – almost all supplied by a rental company! So you’ll definitely be covered if you don’t have the gear/don’t need winter gear at home.
Northern Lights Photography Tips
- If you are photographing the lights with your phone, you’ll want to shoot as still as possible. I recommend this phone tripod.
- If your phone has night mode, set the shutter speed as low as possible (i.e. longer seconds) and lower the exposure. Lowering the exposure typically involves tapping on the screen and moving the “sun” icon down.
- Shoot at 1x zoom for the sharpest image.
- The photos below were all taken on my iPhone 15 Pro Max, with a low exposure and 10s to 30s exposure.
If you’re shooting on a camera with manual mode, there’s a few things you might want to do to shoot content the best.
- Of course, start with a sturdy tripod.
- A remote shutter also allows you to avoid clicking the camera shutter and causing some shakiness in the photos.
- A wide angle lens and a low aperture are best for capturing photos. My 24-70 f/2.8 is a fantastic lens but I do wish I had a wider lens to capture more of the lights.
- Set your ISO to 1600–3200, depending on the light
- Set your focus to manual, and to infinity.
- Play around with your aperture, ISO and shutter speed to get the right combination for your situation. Brighter aurora will require a shorter shutter, and a less active aurora will require a long shutter.
