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● Live · NOAA Ovation
Kp index now
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peaks 2.0 in the next 24h
The aurora, live, on the whole planet
What you're looking at: NOAA's latest aurora forecast drawn as light around both poles, on an Earth showing real day and night. The glow marks where the aurora is likely within the next half hour or so. Green means likely; violet means a storm is pushing it toward certainty. Spin the globe, zoom in, and tap any city pin for its full forecast tonight.
The green crown
The auroral oval, where the lights are likely right now. It widens toward the equator as geomagnetic activity climbs.
Kp, in one line
A 0–9 scale of geomagnetic activity. Tromsø has aurora overhead from Kp 1; Edinburgh's cameras catch it from about Kp 1 and eyes from about Kp 2; a violet-tinged oval means storm levels.
The dark side matters
Aurora is only visible from the night side, so the shaded half of the globe is where hunting is possible right now.
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Tonight over the aurora capitals
Live probability from NOAA's model, refreshed about every 15 minutes.
The live aurora map, explained
- What is the Kp index?
- A 0–9 scale of geomagnetic activity, published by NOAA. The higher the Kp, the further the aurora reaches from the poles: Tromsø sees it from Kp 1, Edinburgh needs about Kp 5, and Kp 7+ is a strong storm (G3) that can light up skies over Germany or the northern United States.
- How current is this aurora map?
- The glowing oval comes from NOAA's OVATION model, which forecasts the next 30–60 minutes and refreshes about every 15 minutes; the timestamp under the globe shows the forecast time. The Kp reading updates on the same rhythm.
- Where is the aurora right now?
- Wherever the ring glows. The capitals list above gives the same answer as numbers, and the shaded half of the globe is in night, which is where a display is actually visible.
- Can I film what this map shows?
- If you're under the oval on a dark night, yes. An iPhone can photograph the aurora, and with Aurora Lens it films the lights moving as a 4K timelapse. Rest the phone on something steady, tap once, and watch.
Want tonight's verdict for a specific place? All 139 city forecasts →