Aurora Borealis and Solar Cycle 25 explained

As expedition vessels sail north into the Arctic this winter to witness the spectacle of the northern lights, they are likely to encounter the finest displays in living memory due to a phenomenon called Solar Cycle 25. 

The northern hemisphere’s aurora borealis occurs in a layer of the Earth’s atmosphere called the thermosphere, which is located some 80 to 500 kilometres (56 to 311 miles) above sea level. Auroras are formed in the lower reaches of this zone.  

Watching the northern lights shapeshifting forms and colours is a truly dazzling experience. Typically, they are witnessed as iridescent greens in the shapes of curtains, coronae, arcs, and bands – wobbling across the night-time sky’s horizon.