Why 2025 is going to be the best year to witness the mesmerising aurora borealis

Aurora borealis (Representative Image: Canva)

The aurora borealis and aurora australis have been lighting up the skies in recent months. If you missed them, don’t worry—2025 promises even more frequent displays. This is all thanks to heightened solar activity. The Sun, our giant energy engine, powers these captivating natural spectacles.

What Are the Northern and Southern Lights?
The northern and southern lights, also known as auroras, occur when charged particles from the Sun collide with Earth’s atmosphere. These collisions create mesmerizing green, red, and purple waves across the sky. In the Northern Hemisphere, the lights are called aurora borealis. In the Southern Hemisphere, they are known as aurora australis.

The best locations to witness these lights are near the poles. For the northern lights, northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Canada, and Alaska are top spots. In the southern hemisphere, you can view them from Antarctica, southern Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, and Australia.

How Solar Activity Powers Auroras
The auroras are driven by bursts of solar activity, like solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These events release charged particles and plasma from the Sun, sending them toward Earth. The magnetosphere, Earth’s protective shield, redirects most of these particles. Some particles, however, reach our atmosphere and cause the auroras.

Astrophysicist Dr Renate Mauland-Hus explains, “When these particles collide with nitrogen and oxygen atoms in the atmosphere, they release light as they return to their natural state.”

Solar Maximum and 2025: A Big Year for Auroras
The Sun goes through 11-year cycles of activity, with solar maximum marking the peak. We are currently in solar cycle 25, which began in late 2019. According to Dr Mauland-Hus, the solar maximum is expected to last until mid-2025. This means an increase in aurora activity, with a predicted peak in July 2025.

Even after the solar maximum, auroras will remain frequent. “Aurora activity can peak after solar maximum,” says Dr Mauland-Hus. “So, 2025 and the following years will be exciting for skywatchers.”

The study, published by Time and Date, predicts that 2025 will be a spectacular year for aurora displays, so don’t miss out on the chance to witness nature’s light show.

(Inputs from timeanddate.com)