Cosmoglobus — the living Earth in 3D
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Aurora forecast: the northern lights tonight
The aurora oval is drawn on the globe the way the space weather service forecasts it for the next hour: where the northern and southern lights are likely to be overhead, and how far towards the equator they reach tonight.
The readings beside it tell the story of the Sun: the Kp index, the speed of the solar wind, solar flares. When a storm arrives the oval swells, and the lights come down to places that rarely see them.
The forecast is NOAA's OVATION model, updated every few minutes. Combine it with the night side of the globe to see where it is actually dark enough to watch.
Questions people ask
- What does the Kp index mean?
- It measures how disturbed the Earth's magnetic field is, from 0 (quiet) to 9 (a great storm). From about Kp 5 the aurora can be seen far south of the Arctic.