Longyearbyen
Northern lights in Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen is at 76° magnetic latitude, inside the polar cap: at night the auroral oval usually lies to the south, and around midday in the dark of winter it can pass overhead.
Right now · as of
It is twilight in Longyearbyen, so only a bright aurora would show; it is fully dark at 19:16.
NOAA’s model gives under 5% overhead right now. It looks only 30 minutes ahead, so check again once it is dark.
NOAA SWPC’s OVATION nowcast for . It ignores cloud and moonlight.
Longyearbyen and the auroral oval
- Longyearbyen is at 75.9° magnetic latitude (IGRF-14 at 2026.8). The aurora circles the magnetic poles, so this says more about how often it is seen here than the latitude on a map does.
- Even on the quietest nights the aurora reaches this far, by a rough rule of thumb.
Good to know
- NOAA’s model ignores cloud and moonlight: a high chance under cloud means nothing to see.
- It looks about 30 minutes ahead, so it says nothing about later tonight.
- Dark here means the sun at least 12° below the horizon; in twilight only a bright aurora shows.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Aurora forecast, Live clouds, Day and night, live