Aurora · Northern Ireland
Northern lights forecast for Belfast
From Belfast the aurora needs Kp 4 or more, and a clear sky. It appears low on the northern horizon at first, climbing higher as Kp rises above 4.
Right now
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Belfast at a glance
- Kp needed (on the horizon)
- 4
- Geomagnetic latitude
- 57.3° N
- Dark enough
- Jun 25 to Jun 17
- Best hours
- around local midnight
How to read this
Kp measures how disturbed Earth's magnetic field is, from 0 to 9. The higher it goes, the further the auroral oval spreads toward the equator. Belfast lies at 57.3° geomagnetic latitude, so an aurora shows on its horizon from about Kp 4 or more, and overhead a couple of Kp steps higher. Between Jun 18 and Jun 24 the sun never goes more than 12° below the horizon here: the sky stays too bright to see an aurora whatever the Kp. Get away from city lights and look north.
Nearby places
Source
Kp observed and forecast: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, read live by your browser. Kp threshold: centred-dipole geomagnetic latitude and NOAA's ~2° per Kp oval rule, an estimate that shifts with each storm; the aurora map shows the OVATION oval as it is now.