01
Your local outlook
Space-weather support and real visibility are separated, so a strong solar signal is never confused with a clear local sky.
Aurora intelligence for real observers
Know when
to look up.
Aurora Beacon brings the Sun, solar wind, geomagnetic response, cloud, darkness and your location together — then turns it into a clear answer about tonight.
Local outlookLive signalsPractical viewing toolsiPhone + Android
Tonight, made clear
One local answer. All the evidence underneath.
Aurora Beacon is designed around the question most people actually have: is it worth going outside tonight? The simple answer stays on Outlook; the detail is there whenever you want to inspect it.
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See what changed
Open the Space Weather Signal for a last-24-hour view, peak period and the immediate Bz and solar-wind drivers behind the score.
03
Check the sky itself
Real Visibility explains cloud, darkness and the biggest local limiter, with a history view showing when observing conditions were strongest.
Why Aurora Beacon
More than an aurora forecast.
A global index can tell you that something is happening. It cannot, on its own, tell you whether your sky is usable, which horizon is darker, whether nearby ground stations are responding, or when tonight is most worth your time.
Is tonight worth it?
Open Outlook and get the practical answer first: space-weather support, real visibility, the best window and the biggest thing helping or limiting your chances.
Local answerBest windowPlain English
Open the evidence underneath.
Move from the simple answer into solar wind, Bz, recent trends, regional magnetometers, solar events and historical geomagnetic context when you want the full story.
24-hour contextGround responseAdvanced intelligence
Space weather ≠ visibility
Aurora Beacon keeps the upstream signal and your real local sky separate, so a promising solar signal is never mistaken for a clear observing opportunity.
Local, not just planetary
Darkness, cloud, Moon, location and nearby regional evidence are brought into the decision instead of leaving you with a global number to interpret.
Planning after prediction
The aurora map, light-pollution map, Viewing Spots and Horizon Compass help answer the next question: where should you actually go and which way should you face?
Explainable by design
Scores, trends and viewing guidance can be opened up. The app is designed to show the evidence behind its interpretation rather than hide it behind a single percentage.
Useful before you pay
The core aurora experience stays available without Plus.
Compare Free & Plus
Outlook, the full aurora map, immediate local alerts and Community remain part of the free experience.
Maps built for decisions
See where the aurora is — and where the darkness is.
Two very different maps answer two different questions. The aurora map shows where activity may reach. The observing tools help you find a better place to stand.
Full map included free
Your location against the oval
Included free
Full aurora visibility map
Zoom out for the wider picture or move in toward your location. The map shows forecast auroral intensity in context rather than reducing the night to a single Kp number.
- Northern and southern aurora views
- Faint → extreme forecast intensity
- Your location shown against the oval
- Designed to complement the local Outlook
Glow layer
Nearby darker options
Plan the horizon
Light pollution & darker-horizon planning
Seeing an aurora is not only about solar activity. Nearby sky glow can wash out a weak display, so Aurora Beacon helps you understand where the brighter horizon sits and whether a darker nearby option may be worth considering.
- Artificial light-glow overlay
- Nearby darker options and saved places
- Use the map before you travel
- Switch to the compass once you are outside
Live bearing
Darker option nearby
Once you are outside
Point the phone at the horizon.
The Horizon Compass translates nearby light glow into the direction you are actually facing. It can show which glow to keep behind you, suggest a darker direction and estimate whether moving could materially improve the observing position.
Live bearingGlow directionDarker optionScore gain
Follow the story from the source
From the Sun to Earth, without losing the context.
Aurora Beacon connects the pieces that are usually scattered across different specialist sites: what happened on the Sun, what may be travelling toward Earth, what the solar wind is doing now, and how the ground is responding.
Sun
See the source
Multiple solar views explain what each wavelength is useful for — including hot flare plasma and active regions.
Events
Build the current solar story
Recent flares, CMEs and coronal-hole context sit together, helping explain why incoming conditions may be changing.
Journey
Track a possible arrival
Follow observed solar origin, NASA analysis, modelled arrival windows and later Earth-response evidence — while keeping confidence and causality explicit.
Advanced intelligence
Go deeper when you want the numbers.
Advanced brings the forecast, solar wind and geomagnetic evidence together in one place. Recent-trend charts keep the latest Bz and wind behaviour visible without asking you to interpret raw feeds from scratch.
See what Plus adds →
Regional ground signals
See how Earth is responding near you.
Regional magnetometer data adds something a global index cannot: evidence of where magnetic disturbance is actually being detected on the ground.
Regional station map
Browse live observatories by area and see which networks are contributing current context.
Compare the region
See the strongest station, freshness and movement across the stations in the selected region.
Inspect one station
Open the full 24-hour pattern, short-term movement, peak values and whether the signal is building or cooling off.
Plan before you leave
Compare viewing spots with tonight’s conditions.
Save or compare places across different regions. Each card combines cloud, darkness, sky-glow and recent regional activity so the location is judged for tonight, not just because it looks dark on a map.
- Cloud and darkness at each place
- Light-pollution context
- Regional geomagnetic activity
- Tonight score and best window
Cloud + darkness aware
Regional activity included
A night with Aurora Beacon
From the first signal to the horizon.
The useful part of an aurora app is not one screen. It is the chain of decisions between wondering whether anything might happen and standing somewhere dark enough to see it.
Something changes
A local alert gives you a reason to look, without treating every upstream fluctuation as an emergency.
Check tonight
See whether the space-weather signal and your actual local viewing conditions agree.
See the wider picture
Put your location against the forecast auroral oval and understand the geographic context.
Choose where to go
Compare cloud, darkness, light glow and recent regional activity at saved or candidate locations.
Face the better horizon
Once outside, use nearby glow direction and darker alternatives to improve the observing position.
Share what happened
See approved sightings and contribute to the record of the night without exposing a precise private location.
Prediction is only the start.
See alerts & community →
Immediate local alerts free
Alerts
Wake you for the right reasons.
Choose how readily the phone should alert. Every mode still considers live location, darkness, sky and space-weather conditions rather than treating every upstream change as a reason to interrupt you.
Immediate local aurora alerts are included without Plus.
Approved community photos
Community
See what real observers are seeing.
Approved aurora photographs add the human view of the night sky. Reactions and trusted contributions help surface useful sightings while public locations remain approximate rather than exposing a precise private position.
Share the experience without turning location privacy into a trade-off.
Observer Passport
Keep the story of your aurora journey.
Your profile brings together Aurora Journey progress, Community Reputation, contributions and badges. It is deliberately secondary to the observing tools — a record of what you have done, not a game you have to play.
Aurora JourneyCommunity reputationBadgesContributions
Aurora Journey + Reputation
Unlock badges as you explore
Aurora Beacon Plus
More lead time. More evidence. More context.
The core experience remains useful for everyone. Plus is for observers who want to look further ahead and inspect the deeper space-weather story.
Included freeOutlookFull aurora mapImmediate local alertsCommunity
Plus addsAdvanced intelligenceCoronal Hole WatchSolar EventsFuture / HSS outlook alerts
Questions before you download
What Aurora Beacon is — and what it is not.
Aurora forecasting is uncertain by nature. Aurora Beacon is built to make that uncertainty more useful, not to pretend it can guarantee a display.
Read the science & data approach →Is Aurora Beacon free?
Yes. The core experience includes Outlook, the full aurora map, immediate local alerts and Community. Aurora Beacon Plus adds deeper Advanced intelligence, Coronal Hole Watch, Solar Events and future / HSS outlook alerts.
Is it only for experienced aurora watchers?
No. Outlook is deliberately designed to give the practical answer first. More technical screens are there when you want to inspect the evidence, but you do not need to understand every solar-wind chart to use the app.
Does a high Kp mean I will see the aurora?
No. Kp can be useful context, but visibility also depends on location, darkness, cloud, sky glow and how conditions evolve. Aurora Beacon keeps the space-weather signal and real local visibility separate for exactly that reason.
How does Aurora Beacon use my location?
Location can be used to tailor local darkness, weather, aurora visibility, observing context and relevant regional evidence. Community locations are intended to remain approximate rather than exposing a contributor’s precise private position.
Are regional ground signals available everywhere?
Regional coverage depends on the observatory networks, data availability and permissions supported for an area. Where regional evidence is available, it supplements rather than replaces the wider space-weather picture.
Which phones will Aurora Beacon support?
Aurora Beacon is built for iPhone and Android. Public App Store and Google Play links will be added to this site when the public listings are live.
Built to earn trust
Clear about the data. Clear about the limits.
The app should help you make a better decision without overstating what space-weather forecasting can know.
Derived means derived
Aurora Beacon’s own scores, trends and interpretations are labelled as Aurora Beacon products rather than presented as official observatory or agency indices.
Science & data →Evidence stays accessible
The simple answer can be opened into recent trends, solar-wind drivers, geomagnetic history and regional observations when you want to check what sits underneath it.
Explore intelligence →Privacy-aware community
Community contributions are designed around approximate public location rather than turning a precise private observing position into part of the social experience.
Privacy →Forecasts are not guarantees
Conditions can change quickly. Aurora Beacon provides guidance and context, while safe travel, access, weather and observing decisions remain with the user.
Terms & safety →
Solar imagerySolar windGeomagnetic indicesRegional magnetometersWeather & astronomy
Aurora Beacon
The next aurora starts at the Sun.
Your decision starts here.
Public App Store and Google Play links will appear here when the listings are live.