Northern lights near Whitehorse in Yukon
© Design Pics/Danita Delimon
A 'horse' of many colours
Whitehorse, Yukon's only city and the largest in Northern Canada, will have just seven hours of daylight today, but nature has a way of compensating for this injustice. The area enjoys frequent and spectacular light shows, thanks to the aurora borealis. The mechanics of northern lights are still not fully understood, but scientists agree that solar winds—big pulses of energy from our sun—pass through the Earth's magnetic fields, especially at the polar regions, resulting in shimmering colours.
In addition to the lights, the nearby mountains help facilitate another unusual phenomenon: lenticular clouds. These lens-shape clouds usually develop on the downwind side of a mountain range, and we think they add an otherworldly element to our image.
Related Images
Geomagnetic storm at night, Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
Goðafoss waterfall under the northern lights, Iceland
Northern Lights over open water in winter near Whitehorse, Yukon
Aurora borealis above the Brooks Range in Alaska
Comet NEOWISE streaks across the sky over Sunwapta Lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta
Northern lights and wild reindeer on the tundra in Norway
Inukshuk silhouetted against the Northern Lights in Barren Lands, Northwest Territories
Aurora Australis over the Halley VI Research Station in Antarctica
Bing Today Images
