The year 2025 has started in the most exceptional way, with the Northern Lights visible in Lorraine and Franche-Comté for the first two nights of the year, December 31 and January 1.
The year 2024 had already seen this spectacle appear three times in the French sky, in March, in May (where it was of high intensity) and in October. But then why has this phenomenon, very rare in France, increased in recent times? Usually, when you say Northern Lights you say Lapland, Iceland or Alaska.
Jean-Paul Arnould, an amateur astronomer who has been a member of the Société Lorraine d’Astronomie for around fifteen years, explains to us. Good news: the show should return in 2025 but you will have to take advantage of it, because the Northern Lights will become rarer afterwards.
The Sun in a peak of activity
“Several conditions are necessary for the Northern Lights to appear. First, that the Sun is very active and that it ejects matter into its environment. Depending on the speed of these prominences, they will either fall back on the Sun or go off into space.” Among those that are ejected into space, some will reach our planet and collide with the Earth’s magnetic field. This is how the aurora is born.
However, the activity of the Sun operates in cycles of around ten years during which it will experience different periods of activity. As NASA announced in October 2024, The Sun is currently in its solar maximum, the most intense period.
A slack period of 8 to 10 years
“We are in the peak,” confirms Jean-Paul Arnould. In May, a solar storm of rare intensity led to the appearance of aparticularly unusual northern urorae. “This exceptionally violent ejection was the strongest since the 2000s. The Northern Lights were seen around the world! », Enthuses the astronomer.
This peak of activity “is expected to continue into 2025 but we do not know for how long. Maybe in three months it will be over. We will then go through a hollow period for 8-10 years where the Northern Lights will become much rarer.” You will have understood: this year 2025, it is the year or never to observe the Northern Lights from Lorraine or Franche-Comté.
-Tips for optimal observation
To maximize your chances of seeing one, the astronomer advises you to download an app to your phone (My Aurora Forecast for example, has a free version), which will warn you a few hours in advance in the event of the Northern Lights.
Although most of the Northern Lights are not visible to the naked eye, there is no need for sophisticated equipment: justa smartphone with a night mode to succeed in capturing them in photos.
The darker the place you are in, without light pollution (car headlights, street lamps, city lights, etc.) the greater the chances of seeing the auroras.
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