Memes

The best of the October Northern Lights memes

Memes? At this time of year? In your kitchen?

Photo of Anna Good

Anna Good

northern lights meme

On the night of October 10th, the aurora borealis was visible in much of the northern half of the United States and Europe, leading to beautiful photos of the green and pink tones of the Northern Lights. Since taking over the night sky, Aurora Borealis memes have also taken over social media sites.

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According to the BBC, these solar storms cause charged particles from the sun to hit the Earth’s atmosphere and light up the night sky in beautiful colors.

“Picture this as a big sneeze by the Sun,” Dr. Affelia Wibisono, from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, told the BBC. “It can contain up to a million tons of charged particles.”

This isn’t the first time the sky was lit up by the light show phenomenon this year, with the last one happening in May. Space Weather Prediction Center forecast coordinator Shawn Dahl told CBS News, “We are in the midst of solar maximum. What that means is the sun is now this twisted-up mass of strong magnetic fields, and some of these are so localized and intense they reveal themselves as these sunspot groups.” 

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He added that the level of activity is significantly higher than the international panel of scientific experts had originally thought, concluding that,  “We’re in for a ride the rest of this year, all of next year and even into 2026 before things will start to work their way back down to solar minimum.”

All this means that we have many more lights in the night sky to enjoy in the next year or two, which people are doing in the best way they know how: by making memes about it. Here are some of the best Northern Lights memes from around the internet.

1.

Tweet that reads, 'People phoning into radio stations this morning 'Oh look at us, we’ve seen the #NorthernLights'' with a photo of the aurora borealis and Homer Simpson overlaid.
@aj1892/X
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2.

https://twitter.com/laurenhtexas/status/1844528164464169313
@aj1892/X

3.

Tweet that reads, 'Gonna tell me kids this is the northern lights.' with a photo of a stadium at night.
@morbrem/X
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4.

Tweet that reads, 'For everyone who weren't able to see the northern lights last night, I got you.' A photo of the cloudy sky with colorful highlighter scrawls. Text on the image reads, 'I didn't see the Northern Lights, but I just like to be included.'
@morbrem/X

5.

Photo of the northern lights with a Jack Skellington figurine looking at the sky.
@ArcticSekai/X
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6.

Tweet that reads, 'Time for this meme again!!' with a meme of a grumpy person closing the curtains on the northern lights to look at photos of the northern lights on their computer.
@ArcticSekai/X

7.

MRW I am told that the northern lights will be visible from central Illinois
byu/HappySkullsplitter inreactiongifs
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8.

Meme on a rippling background that reads, 'He's a 10, but he won't stay up outside to watch the northern lights.'
@alaska_memes_/Instagram

9.

Two-image meme. Top: 'Everyone:' northern lights photo, bottom: 'Me:' a man sleeping on a bed.
@alaska_memes_/Instagram
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10.

11.

A photo of a Chili's restaurant with the text, 'the northern lights are so beautiful, man.'
@StoolieMemes/X
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12.

Photo on Instagram of chili pepper lights. Caption reads, 'All my friends up north posting pics of the northern lights meanwhile the lights I see and the sounds I hear in my backyard… ladies and gentlemen… the southern lights…'
@StoolieMemes/X

13.

Tweet that reads, 'The 'we have the northern lights at home' starter pack.' with faded photos of the aurora borealis.
@nicole_facee/X
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14.

Northern Lights meme in two parts. Top is a photo of the sky, bottom photo is of a sleeping woman. 'What everyone in the UK was doing last night vs what I was doing.'
@nicole_facee/X

15.

A photo of the Northern Lights with text overlaid that reads, 'You got a project due.'
@dal_memes/Instagram
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16.

Tweet that reads, 'I know people are sick of everyone posting them but I just wanted to share my picture of the northern lights.' With a screencap from The Simpsons.
@dal_memes/Instagram

17.

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18.

Tweet that reads, 'Shout out to everyone who, like me, missed the northern lights for the second time in 2024.'
@aliceinwineland/X

19.

https://twitter.com/DollysGarden/status/1844692617172303960
@aliceinwineland/X
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20.

Photo of a Taco Bell, text reads, 'the northern lights are breathtaking.'
@aliceinwineland/X

21.

Aurora borealis meme with Spongebob characters. Text reads, 'me watching everyone enjoy the northern lights.'
@_ADWills/X
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22.

@_ADWills/X

23.

Aurora borealis meme. Text reads, 'Gotta admit, Democrats sending the northern lights to a swing state is a smooth campaign move.'
@dinachka82/X
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24.

Photo of the northern lights with a 90s green and purple 90s graphic overlaid on it. Text reads, 'the northern lights are incredible.'
@dinachka82/X

25.

Tweet that reads, 'Yeah the aurora borealis is a thing of beauty but I’d rather see those areolas let’s berealis'
@dinachka82/X
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26.

https://twitter.com/thinkcentres/status/1844535398737068202

27.

Tweet that reads, 'Don’t need to be able to see the Northern Lights. My friends are more radiant and beautiful'
@pwiscila/X
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28.

Photos of the northern lights with text that reads, 'aurora borealis? at this time of year? at this time of day? in this part of the country? localized entirely? in your neighborhood?'
@pwiscila/X

29.

Photo of the northern lights with a Snapchat text filter on top that reads, 'I'm biphobic but...that's incredible.'
@pwiscila/X
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30.

31.

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32.

https://twitter.com/SamLMontano/status/1844525461550006723

33.

In Body Image
@DaveLuty/X
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34.

@DaveLuty/X

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