The Mystery of the Northern Lights
(Article reprinted with permission of Tourism Saskatchewan.)

Ask three people to explain the northern lights and you are likely to get three completely different interpretations. Some favour scientific analysis, others take a more spiritual view and still others will take a view somewhere in between. The truth of the matter is that while many of the mysteries surrounding the northern lights have been unraveled by scientists, as many mysteries remain. But when it comes to something as mystical as the Aurora Borealis, choosing your own interpretation is the point. As Saskatchewan writer Candace Savage states in her book, Aurora, “The aurora is not just a puzzle to solve; it is also a mystery to experience.”

It is this sense of mystery and wonderment that makes people so fascinated by the lights. Saskatchewan is one of the best places in North America to see the northern lights, particularly in the more northern parts of the province. Melfort, in the east central region, is in fact nicknamed the “City of Northern Lights”. When spotting the aurora is a regular occurrence, it’s easy to take the displays for granted. But the sight of swirling, dancing light in shades of green, white, pink and blue, or in rare cases red, forces even the most seasoned viewer to stop in her tracks and just gawk. Savage writes, “By rights, we humans ought to live in constant wonderment, amazed by every star, cloud, tree, leaf, feather, fish and rock. Amazed by the supreme improbability of our own intricate existence. But except for a gifted few, we lack the stamina for so much mystery. It takes a shock—a sudden burst of beauty—to wake us to the wonder of our reality.” It’s no surprise that for those who have experienced an aurora, the event is unforgettable.

There is a scientific explanation behind the cause of the lights. The auroras receive power from the sun. When electrically charged particles leave the sun and enter the earth’s magnetic field, some of the energy created in the upper atmosphere creates an aurora light show. The colours will change depending on how the electrons penetrate the atmosphere and which atoms are affected.

The aurora is actually two broken rings of light that hover over the northern and southern polar regions. Each aurora is an arc that is approximately 4000 kilometres in diameter. One of the most intriguing aspects of the two arcs is that they appear simultaneously in both hemispheres. When the lights appear in the northern part of the world, a mirror-image display, called the Aurora Australis, takes place in the south. Auroras also occur on other planets. Jupiter and Saturn are among the planets that have light displays, although due to the differences in atmospheres, they are unlike Earth’s auroras. Even on Earth, though, there is limited viewing access to the auroras. The arc in the southern hemisphere hangs over a largely unpopulated area, so is rarely seen. The Aurora Borealis is usually only visible in higher latitudes. Occasionally an extremely powerful aurora occurs. In 1989 the northern lights were so powerful that they were seen as far south as Key West, Florida. This enormous range of visibility is extremely rare.

Throughout history, nearly every culture that regularly saw the lights had its own interpretation. These theories run the gamut, but few tried to explain what they were seeing scientifically. The beliefs either interpreted the lights as signs of happiness and benevolence, or omens of war, disaster and plagues. Alaskan Aboriginals described auroras as the dancing souls of animals. The Scottish dubbed the lights the “merry dancers”. And people of the Hebrides saw the lights as fairies called “nimble men”. It was perhaps more common, though, to fear the lights and associate them with the dead. Norwegians and Vikings believed the lights were the reflections of unmarried women who had passed away. In Greenland and northern Canada it was believed that the northern lights were the realm of the dead, and that when the lights changed rapidly, spirits were trying to make contact. Some First Nations peoples believed that they could conjure up ghosts and spirits by whistling to the lights.

Although these beliefs are held less frequently now than in the past, many people still interpret the lights in a more personal, spiritual way. People who have come from around the world to Saskatchewan to witness the lights are consistently astounded. Most would agree that scientific explanation is a small part of describing the experience.

When planning your holiday, be sure to ask your hosts about good places to go to spot the lights. Generally, the lights are more accessible in the winter months and in the early hours of the morning, just after midnight. But summer and fall displays can be impressive as well. Sightings can never be guaranteed, which adds to the thrill when you do encounter them.

Even though much has been uncovered about this phenomenon, scientists are still searching for patterns, explanations, reliable methods to track auroral behaviors. It is still impossible to predict occurrences and how the displays will differ in colour and movement with each appearance. This gap in our knowledge is fitting, as no matter how much we can explain, the northern lights will continue to defy description. The only way to truly understand or measure their magnificence is to experience them for yourself.

(Related links and images pertaining to this article can be found at the Tourism Saskatchewan website.)