The fluctuating solar cycle means the odds of seeing the northern lights increase every 11 years or so – and with 2024 at peak levels, photographers around the world were able to capture a rare amount of color and detail in the night sky phenomenon. Every year, travel photography blog Capture the Atlas selects 25 of the best Aurora images of the year. But, thanks to the peak in the solar cycle, this year’s collection of images shows what Capture the Atlas editor Dan Zafra says is an “unprecedented” level of detail and in more locations than before.
The 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year honors 25 different photographers from 15 different nationalities (and, yes, despite the name, the Southern Lights are featured in the contest too). The contest’s seventh annual year features more rare locations that seldom get to spot the lights across the night sky as far south as 28 degrees north latitude, including Arizona, California, Spain, Chilean Patagonia, Namibia, Madeira Island and Tenerife.
