What is the best time of day to see aurora?
The most active region of the auroral oval typically becomes visible around local midnight. This region is also the widest part of the oval in the north-south direction, so your best chance of seeing aurora is around local midnight. (Note that this is astronomical midnight, which may be an hour or two different from civil or “wall clock” midnight due to daylight savings time or other peculiarities in your time zone.) Spectacular auroral displays due to geomagnetic disturbances may be seen at any time when the sky is dark, but they are relatively unpredictable. Under average conditions, observations around local midnight are most likely to yield results. Will I be able to see aurora when I visit in a few months? It is not possible to predict auroral activity very far in advance. As solar activity increases towards the maximum in 2000-2001, the aurora will be even less predictable, with forecasts being limited to a few days based on current observations of solar flares and sunspots. So,
