Northern lights in Murmansk tonight and this season

1Aurora over Murmansk right now

2The Kp index Murmansk needs

Murmansk lies at 69.0° N, which is 64.9° N geomagnetic latitude on the WMM2025 dipole. NOAA's viewing tips put the edge of the auroral oval at about 66° geomagnetic for Kp 0 and move it about 2° closer to the equator with each Kp level, down to 48° at Kp 9. So the oval reaches Murmansk from Kp 1, the threshold the cards on this site compare with the Kp measured right now. NOAA also notes that aurora can often be observed hundreds of kilometres equatorward of the oval's edge, so a bright display can show low on the northern horizon one Kp level earlier.

3Kp forecast for the next 3 days

Data: NOAA SWPC. Slots before now are NOAA estimates, the rest are predicted values.

4When the sky over Murmansk is dark enough

The aurora needs a dark sky as much as it needs Kp, and darkness is a matter of latitude and date. Fully dark nights in Murmansk (sun 18° below the horizon) run from 15 September to 27 March. From 13 April to 29 August the sky never gets darker than nautical twilight, so only a strong display shows, low on the horizon. The polar night lasts from 2 December to 10 January, 40 days with the sun below the horizon all day, when the aurora can show in the afternoon. The midnight sun lasts from 21 May to 21 July, 62 days. Dates are an own calculation from the sun's declination for the latitude of Murmansk, with the US Naval Observatory definitions of twilight, and can be a day off at the edges. Clouds and moonlight are the other half of the question: the home page shows the moon phase for each of the next 27 days.

5Why Russia for the northern lights

Murmansk is the largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits under the oval, with the Teriberka coast on the Barents Sea as the classic viewing spot. Entry rules for many visitors have changed in recent years, so the page keeps to the data and leaves planning to the reader.

All places in Russia with their odds tonight.

6Murmansk on the Kp scale

Murmansk is the only place in Russia on this site. The Locations page ranks all 33 destinations by the Kp they need, from Kp 1 inside the auroral zone to Kp 9 at the edge of NOAA's rule.

7Northern lights tours in Murmansk

No guided aurora tour from Murmansk passes the catalogue filter of 4.3 stars and 20 reviews yet. The aurora probability above does not depend on tours: a dark spot outside the lights of the town is the first thing to find.