From Iceland’s Arctic Henge to snowy forests, the vistas represented in the 2025 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year contest highlight the visual symphony of geomagnetic light phenomena. Paired with distinctive landscapes, the images illuminate our planet’s unique relationship with the sun.
While photographers captured some scenes in subarctic regions where the northern lights are vivid and common, others created images farther south or in the opposite hemisphere, where the phenomenon is known as aurora australis. For example, Jeff Cullen’s portrait of two sea stacks on the coast of Victoria, Australia, is veiled by a bright pink display.
2025 was a great year for spotting the auroras, marked by high levels of geomagnetic activity as the sun reached what’s known as solar maximum. Lasting approximately 12 months, the phase was part of a regular 11-year cycle in which the magnetic poles flip on our Solar System’s star. During this period, the orb transitions from relative calm to periods of stormy turbulence, and the latter is when the auroras become particularly intense, frequent, and visible in more parts of the world.
On Earth, the auroras are created when charged solar particles interact with the planet’s atmosphere, assuming myriad illuminated shapes and motion patterns in magenta, green, purple, red, and blue. Curtain-like stretches may swoop across the sky twist into spiraling forms, while others may appear more like rays or starbursts.
The Northern Lights Photographer of the Year competition aims to showcase both established and emerging photographers, along with highlighting locations where the auroras are less common. Organized by Capture the Atlas, the contest shares the top 25 images of the year on its website.
You might also enjoy perusing the winners of the 2025 Milky Way Photographer of the Year.
