This Week’s Northern Lights Won’t Be as Strong Again Until 2035

Everyone remembers their first time seeing the Northern Lights. Part of that is because, unlike everyday stargazing, some travel is typically required to catch them at their most vivid—and even then, you still need to get a little lucky with conditions for the best possible viewing experience. Therefore, it pays to prioritize seeing them even when there’s only a slight chance it will be an awe-inspiring show. But don’t wait too long: Scientists say this week’s spectacular Northern Lights won’t be this strong again for another decade.

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The sun has been more active in recent months.

You may have noticed that the Northern Lights have shown up in some unusual places over the past year and a half. That’s because the sun is currently in what’s known as a solar maximum phase of Solar Cycle 25, which describes an 11-year stretch that covers both a peak and a low of activity on the sun, per NASA.

The reversal of our star’s magnetic poles during this period makes it more likely that sunspots and intense solar flares will develop, which send radiation hurtling towards Earth, resulting in vivid aurora when they hit our magnetic field. That’s why this year marks something of a special occasion.

“2025 isn’t just another good year for the aurora. It may be the last truly spectacular year of this cycle,” says Silvena Nonev, a travel expert with Scandinavia Private Tours. “Once the solar maximum passes, displays will gradually weaken until the mid-2030s. That makes this year a rare opportunity for travelers who want to see the Northern Lights at their absolute peak.”

This week presents an extra special opportunity to spot the aurora.

Whenever you’re trying to see the Northern Lights, it must be dark enough for those vivid sheets of color to become visible—meaning that northern latitudes with very little nightfall during the spring and summer months won’t provide as many opportunities. But as autumn approaches, the waning daylight makes it easier to spot—especially during the equinox, which falls on Sept. 22 this year.

When our planet reaches this special point in its orbit where it’s neither tilting away nor towards the sun, it creates a unique alignment between our planet’s magnetic field and the solar winds driving out into space from the center of our solar system, according to the astronomy site EarthSky.

This position—which is similar to when opposite sides of two magnets become close to one another—provides optimal conditions for solar winds to travel closer to Earth’s magnetic poles. Of course, this means that the same conditions also arise during the spring equinox in March, too.

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Here are some tips for catching the Northern Lights.

This year’s second “alignment” of the solar maximum with the autumnal equinox could bring some of the best aurora viewing seen in decades. But just because there have been some surprising solar storms doesn’t mean you should count on seeing them in your neck of the woods before this chance passes.

As the name itself suggests, you should really head north if you want better chances of seeing the Northern Lights and get closer to the magnetic pole, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This can be in places like Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, Alaska, and northern Canada.

Once you’ve gotten yourself to the right locale, you should also plan on staying up pretty late: Prime aurora viewing hours tend to be within two hours before and after midnight (from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.). If you don’t want to leave disappointed, try to plan for several nights of attempts just in case local weather conditions don’t align with solar activity. And even if you can’t plan a trip in time for Sept. 22, you might still have a few chances in the coming months to get your aurora sightings in.

“We could be looking at the most intense solar maximum on record, with some forecasters predicting this winter to be one of the best ever times to experience the Northern Lights,” Chad Blakely, founder of aurora borealis tourism company Lights Over Lapland, told Forbes.