Plan Your Northern Lights Trip During the Solar Maximum

If you’re contemplating taking a northern lights trip, particularly to Abisko, Swedish Lapland, the time to do it is between now and winter. According to NASA, the Sun reached the peak of its 11 year activity cycle in 2013/2014, an astral phenomenon known as the solar maximum. This article details what the solar maximum is, what it has meant in recent times for aurora hunters, and what you should expect next. Plan your northern lights trip soon so you don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to see one of Earth’s most amazing features!

The Solar Maximum

The Sun has a solar cycle that has an average duration of 11 years. Solar maximum is the term used to describe the period when the Sun is at its most active within this solar cycle. As a consequence of this heightened solar activity, the Northern Lights are at their most frequent and spectacular. NASA has confirmed that the Sun’s solar max activity is set to decline at the end of this upcoming winter season. However, other researchers have also suggested that the most of this solar activity is more likely to occur when a solar cycle begins to decline. Thus, all signs point to this upcoming winter for the best time to book a northern lights trip.

What It Has Meant

The increase of solar energy has caused an increase of aurora activity. While the current state of this solar cycle has not been as intense as years past, it has meant that sightings have been more frequent than average. To take an example, Abisko in Swedish Lapland has averaged some degree of aurora activity on three out of every four nights of the last season, so those who have been lucky enough to enjoy their northern light trip during this period had excellent opportunities to see the aurora borealis. Another consequence of the solar maximum has been the increase in a number of incredible one off solar flares visible as far out of the Aurora zone as Southern Europe. Sightings have been spotted in England and Scotland as well.

Up Next

The 2014 winter will see the end of the solar maximum, so if you’re thinking of planning a northern lights trip, try to do so by spring 2015. The polarity shift in the Sun’s solar cycle tends to heighten activity just before the decline of the solar maximum, so impressive displays of Earth’s most fantastic natural phenomenon are still expected on a consistent basis through year’s end and into 2015. Consider planning your northern lights trip to a location with an excellent sightings record like Abisko in northern Sweden, a village with one of the least amounts of light pollution and precipitation in any aurora zone on earth.

Kevin Collins is the director of Aurora Nights, a company offering a select range of once in a lifetime northern lights trips in Swedish Lapland and Iceland, with accommodation including the fabulous Ice Hotel. Aurora Nights is part of Weekend a la Carte, a passionate, family-run company with vast in-depth knowledge based on their extensive travels to the region of the Aurora Borealis.