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Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services
 Physicist Dr. Yosuke Kamide was at the Explorer Hotel last Wednesday explaining why Japanese tourists flock to Yellowknife every winter. The presentation was sponsored by the Explorer Hotel and Raven Tours. - Mike W. Bryant/NNSL photo |
The big draw is the chance to view some of the most spectacular Northern Lights in the world.
A Japanese physicist explained last Wednesday at the Explorer Hotel why they are so enraptured with the dancing lights, and dispelled some other myths.
Dr. Yosuke Kamide says fat wallets and a desire to procreate under a sky ablaze has nothing to do with the attraction.
"Aurora can be regarded as a big TV screen," said Kamide, one of 800 scientists in Japan dedicated to the study of aurora borealis.
"It is telling us all kinds of stories about the universe."
"Under the aurora, Japanese think about the universe where they came from."
The Japanese, who live in a country where sightings are rare, venture abroad in the belief that through the aurora borealis secrets about the universe may be revealed.
According to Hamide, there is scientific rationale behind this sort of thinking.
Northern Lights mirror the solar radiation emanating from the sun's surface.
They are like giant neon signs 100 kilometres above Earth's surface, powered by solar winds smashing into the Earth's magnetic field.
The reason why the aurora borealis are rarely seen from Japan is because the solar energy gravitates towards the Earth's magnetic poles.
But that may not be the case in a few hundred years, said Kamide.
The intensity of Earth's magnetic field has been decreasing since its discovery in 1820. The further the intensity decreases, the closer to the equator auroras will travel. However, no magnetic field means no more atmosphere.
"If it keeps decreasing in 1,000 years Japanese will be able to see it," said Kamide. "When it goes to zero, we all die."
The talk of apocalypse may have unnerved some people, but Mayor Gord Van Tighem said he was staying optimistic.
"It's a cycle, they just haven't found this part," said Van Tighem, pointing downwards, then up.
