Knowing that solar maximum is in 2025 this means 2023 is predicted to be a very good year for seeing the beautiful auroas! March and September are notorious for being the best months to see the Northern Lights, thanks in large part to mild weather keeping the night skies clear. Now that you have had a brief science lesson in the 11-year solar cycle follow let’s talk about how this affects the 2023 outlook for northern lights. So take this information as you will, isn’t science fascinating?! Everything you need to know about the Northern Lights in 2023 In Iceland, though we still witness some spectacular Northern Lights displays regardless of where we are in the solar cycle, and there is research that suggests that some of the most powerful Aurora displays have occurred during a solar minimum period. Instead, it just means that there may be fewer, further apart, and not as strong, Northern Light activity. The Northern Lights don’t just go dormant for a few years at a time. It is important to note that even when we are in a solar minimum period that does not mean that there are no Aurora displays. We are now in the middle period of activity according to the 11-year cycle building up to the next maximum happening in the year 2025 where it can be expected to have an increase in Northern Lights displays for another two or three years after that. For example, in the years 2006-2007, we saw a minimum in solar activity, and in 2013 there was a solar maximum. In the longer term, auroral displays are correlated with an 11-year cycle in sunspot activity and other perturbations of the sun the more restless the sun, the more aurorae. 11-year solar cycleįor those looking to get into even more details about the Northern Lights let’s talk about the 11-year cycle solar cycle. Imagine standing under the green-lit sky, marveling at the display of lights. There is nothing more magical than being bundled up and watching the mystical streaks of color dance their way across the dark winter sky! Meaning, not everywhere is lucky enough to see the Northern Lights, in fact, they typically can only be seen between 60-75 degrees of latitude which covers northern parts of Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Alaska, Russia, and ALL of Iceland. This occurs around the Polar Regions where magnetic fields cover. These particles then travel to Earth's hemisphere and appear in a clear sky as swirling rivers of greenish-blue light. Solar storms give out huge clouds of electrically charged particles. The lights we see in the night sky are actually caused by activity on the surface of the sun. The Northern Lights occur because of an interaction between the solar wind, which is the stream of charged particles emanating from the sun, and the Earth's magnetic field. Northern lights dancing over Kirkjufell Mountain What are the Northern Lights?įirst off let’s do a quick science lesson on what exactly causes the Northern Lights. The best Northern Lights tours in Iceland.Helpful apps & tools to hunt the Northern Lights.The best place to see the Northern Lights in Iceland. ![]() ![]() ![]()
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