Get the latest tech news
The Auroras Should Be Spectacular This Summer, Thanks to Solar Maximum
Increasing solar activity over the next year could bring more opportunities to see fantastic displays of the northern lights.
These regions are far smaller than the enormous cluster that triggered our historic aurora display—only two or three times larger than Earth at most—but their presence is a sign that the sun’s activity will be on the upswing over the next 18 months. Scientists predict that we’ll reach solar maximum in July 2025, with heightened activity continuing for a while thereafter, giving us more than a year and a half with better-than-normal odds of spotting auroras at lower latitudes. Before this year’s event, the last time the index peaked at a Kp 9 was during a solar storm that struck around Halloween 2003, during which auroras were visible deep into Europe and the United States.
Or read this on Wired