Aurora · Scotland
Northern lights forecast for Kirkwall
From Kirkwall the aurora needs Kp 2 or more, and a clear sky. It appears low on the northern horizon at first, climbing higher as Kp rises above 2.
Right now
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Kirkwall at a glance
- Kp needed (on the horizon)
- 2
- Geomagnetic latitude
- 61.0° N
- Dark enough
- Jul 28 to May 15
- 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. Kirkwall lies at 61.0° geomagnetic latitude, so an aurora shows on its horizon from about Kp 2 or more, and overhead a couple of Kp steps higher. Between May 16 and Jul 27 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.