Sky events

Aurora & sky events calendar

The aurora doesn't keep a schedule — but the sky does. These are the recurring windows that stack the odds in your favour every year: the equinox storm peaks, the meteor showers that share your dark nights, the moonless windows, and the solar maximum lifting the whole 2024–2026 season.

Solar cycle

2024–2026Solar cycle

Solar Cycle 25 maximum

The Sun runs on an ~11-year cycle, and its activity peaked over 2024–2026 — the strongest maximum in about a decade. More sunspots means more solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which means more frequent and more powerful geomagnetic storms. During these years the aurora regularly pushes to lower latitudes than usual, reaching skies that normally never see it.

TipThese are the best aurora years in a generation — if you've ever wanted to see the lights, now is the time. Even mid-latitude locations get occasional shots during the strongest storms, so it's worth checking the live forecast wherever you are.

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Equinox peaks

Every year around March 20Equinox peaks

Spring equinox

The weeks around the March equinox are, statistically, the most geomagnetically active of the year. Earth's tilt lines up with the solar wind (the Russell–McPherron effect), so a given solar storm is roughly twice as likely to spark a visible display. It also still gets properly dark at aurora latitudes — a window that slams shut a few weeks later.

TipLate March is prime time. Combine it with a new-moon week and you have the single best annual window before the midnight sun ends the season up north.

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Every year around September 22Equinox peaks

Autumn equinox

The September equinox mirrors March: the second great geomagnetic peak of the year, when the solar-wind alignment again roughly doubles the odds of a visible storm. Nights are lengthening fast, temperatures are still mild, and the aurora season is fully back — making late September one of the most rewarding times to travel.

TipPair the equinox boost with clear, moonless nights for the best odds of the autumn. It's a favourite window for aurora trips for exactly this reason.

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Meteor showers

Every year around January 3Meteor showers

Quadrantids meteor shower

One of the year's strongest showers peaks in early January, deep in aurora season. The sharp maximum lasts only hours, but the long, dark high-latitude nights mean a clear sky can hand you both shooting stars and northern lights at once.

TipThe peak is brief — plan for the pre-dawn hours and check the live verdict the same night, since a January cold snap often brings the clear skies aurora needs too.

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Every year around April 22Meteor showers

Lyrids meteor shower

The Lyrids close out the spring aurora season with a modest but reliable display of fast, bright meteors. By late April the far-northern sky is losing true darkness, so this is one of the last easy dark-sky nights before summer twilight takes over.

TipCatch it while you still can up north — by May the sky never fully darkens above the Arctic Circle. Southern-hemisphere hunters have the mirror-image advantage as their season opens.

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Every year around August 12Meteor showers

Perseids meteor shower

The most-watched shower of the year peaks in mid-August, exactly as northern nights turn dark again after the midnight-sun summer. It marks the practical reopening of the northern aurora season — warm nights, returning darkness, and up to 100 meteors an hour under a clear sky.

TipThis is the season-opener for northern hunters. If the new moon falls near the peak, you get a dark sky doing double duty for meteors and any early-autumn aurora.

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Every year around October 21Meteor showers

Orionids meteor shower

Debris from Halley's Comet lights up mid-to-late October, right in the heart of prime autumn aurora season. Long dark nights and often-crisp autumn skies make this a strong night to be out watching the northern sky regardless of the meteor count.

TipFace the darkest part of your sky and stay out past midnight — the same dark, clear conditions that favour the Orionids favour the aurora.

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Every year around November 17Meteor showers

Leonids meteor shower

The famously fast Leonids peak in mid-November, when high-latitude nights are among the longest and darkest of the year. It's deep aurora season, and a single clear, moonless night can deliver meteors and northern lights together.

TipDress for real cold and give your eyes 15–20 minutes to adapt — faint aurora and dim meteors both reveal themselves only to fully dark-adapted eyes.

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Every year around December 14Meteor showers

Geminids meteor shower

The Geminids are the richest shower of the year — up to 120 bright, slow meteors an hour — and they arrive in mid-December during the longest nights of the northern winter. With the aurora season at full strength, a clear Geminid night is one of the best all-round sky-watching nights there is.

TipThe long December darkness means you can watch for hours. Check the live forecast first — a clear Geminid night with active space weather is as good as aurora hunting gets.

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Every year around December 22Meteor showers

Ursids meteor shower

The quiet Ursids round out the year near the winter solstice, close to the longest night. The rates are low, but the timing is perfect: maximum darkness, deep aurora season, and a circumpolar radiant that never sets for far-northern watchers.

TipSolstice week gives you the longest possible dark window — ideal for a patient aurora watch, with the Ursids as a quiet bonus overhead.

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Dark moons

Every monthDark moons

New-moon dark windows

Once a month, around the new moon, the sky loses its brightest source of natural light. For roughly a week either side there is no moonlight to wash out a faint display — and faint is how most aurora actually looks to the naked eye. A moonless night can be the difference between a clear green arc and nothing at all.

TipBuild any aurora trip around the new moon rather than a single date. A dark, moonless sky raises your odds every month of the year — check the live verdict, which already factors in the moon's phase and altitude for you.

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Turn a date into a plan

Pick a window, then check the live sky

A calendar tells you when the odds are best; only the live forecast tells you about tonight. It folds the Kp index, darkness, cloud cover and the moon into one honest, location-aware verdict — so you know whether to head out.

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