![]() I stayed within the Arctic Circle for 4 nights and I saw the Northern Lights on 3 of them. I knew that the period was not very good from a Solar Cycle point of view, so I decided to maximize my chances the best that I could. That means that it’s a good idea to plan your Aurora trip around the 21st of March or the 23rd of September.Īnd that’s the reason why I went to see the lights in March (generally speaking the Aurora season lasts from the beginning of September until the end of March). You will have higher chances of seeing strong, amazing Auroras.īut the Solar Cycle peak is not the only period of time when we know that solar activity intensifies. Now, while you do not have to sit around and wait for the Solar peak, it certainly helps to plan your trip as close as possible to it. But it did require a bit more planning on my part, which I’m positive that it contributed to my success in seeing the lights. And I was lucky enough to catch two solar storms, on two consecutive nights, so it was quite a display. I saw the Northern Lights in March 2018, less than 2 years before the Solar Cycle low. Best time to see Aurora Borealis Aurora watching on lake Tornetraskĭo you have to wait until 2025 to try and see Aurora Borealis?! Definitely not! It is expected to reach its peak around 2025. We are now experiencing Solar Cycle 25, which began in December 2019. ![]() As we approach the low period, solar activity decreases, which usually means fewer, weaker Auroras. This means that solar activity is also more intense and solar storms are happening more frequently. The optimal time to see the Auroras is during the peak period when the number of sunspots is highest. These extremes are determined by how many sunspots there can be observed on the solar surface. The sun has an 11 years activity cycle, during which it experiences a peak and a low as its magnetic field flips – north becomes south, and vice versa. These cannot be predicted by a lot of time, but we can get an idea of how much solar activity can we expect in a year, by looking at the solar cycle. Some of the best moments to witness Auroras are during geomagnetic storms. Since Auroras appear as a result of disturbances in the magnetosphere, caused by the solar wind when it interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field, the more intense the solar activity, the stronger the display. ![]() ![]() They usually occur in a band, called the auroral zone and are best seen at night, against a dark, clear sky.Īurora Australis can be observed from high southern latitudes in Antarctica, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, and Australia.Īurora Borealis on the other hand is visible from locations close to the center of the Arctic Circle such as Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland or Russia. They are the outcome of disturbances in the magnetosphere (made by the solar wind).Īuroras happening near the South Pole are called Australis or the Southern Lights, while the ones happening near the North Pole are called Borealis or the Northern Lights. This is proof that solar activity is increasing, leading to bigger, better sightings.An Aurora is a natural light display in the sky, that is usually seen in the high latitude areas of the Earth (Arctic Pole and Antarctica). However, this magnetic field is the weakest at the poles, which is why these lights form in the atmosphere.Ģ022 has been a year filled with spectacular natural aurora borealis lights, and a report in The Conversation states that not just closer to the poles, these lights have also been seen in northern England. And as the sun’s activity increases and this high-speed solar wind blows over the planet, the magnetic fields of both the Earth and the sun deflect each other. The sun not only emits light but it also has an atmosphere filled with charged particles and magnetic fields. Glimpses of this have already been visible in Tromsø, writes Forbes, reporting that the skies were filled with not just the typical green lights, but rarer pinks and purples, too. The Solar cycle is kicking off, which means that the sightings of the northern (and southern) lights will only increase. According to experts, the multi-coloured spectacle is only set to get bigger, brighter and better, as the sun’s activity increases in the coming years.
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