Guides
Aurora guides
Everything you need to understand the northern lights and actually catch them — the science, the planning, the camera settings, and how our live forecast turns it all into a straight answer.
Photography
How to photograph the northern lights
The exact camera settings (ISO, aperture, shutter), how to focus in the dark, the gear that matters, and how to shoot the aurora on a phone.
Science
What causes the northern lights?
The science, simply: how the solar wind, Earth's magnetic field and the atmosphere combine to make the aurora — and why it glows green, red and purple.
Science
Aurora colours explained
Why the northern lights glow green, red, pink and purple — which gas glows at which altitude, plus STEVE and the eye-vs-camera difference.
Space weather
What is the Kp index?
The 0–9 scale every aurora forecast revolves around, and the Kp you need to see the lights from your latitude.
Planning
Best time to see the northern lights
The best months and hours, how the equinoxes and the solar cycle affect your odds, and a month-by-month breakdown.
Planning
Where to see the aurora
The latitudes and places the northern and southern lights actually reach — and why it's your geomagnetic latitude, not the map, that decides.
Methodology
How the forecast works
How we turn NOAA space-weather data, darkness, cloud and the moon into a single honest yes / no / maybe for your exact spot.
Planning
Aurora packing list
The cold-weather clothing and camera gear aurora chasers actually pack — as a checklist you can tick off.
Planning
Aurora self-drive guide
Renting a winter-ready car and driving Arctic roads safely to chase clear sky — the biggest lever on your odds.
Reference
Geomagnetic latitude, for 402 cities
Why Edinburgh sees the northern lights and Moscow, at the same latitude, does not. Geomagnetic latitude and the Kp needed, for 402 cities.
Aurora reference
Geomagnetic latitude calculator
Enter coordinates or pick a city to get its geomagnetic latitude and longitude, the Kp index you need for the aurora there, and which way to face.
Aurora reference
The geomagnetic latitude map
A map of geomagnetic latitude drawn over ordinary latitude, showing why two cities the same distance north can have completely different aurora odds.