the 4 best apps to discover Aurora Borealis

The Northern Lights are a beautiful phenomenon that mainly occurs around the North Pole. You might find it if you have booked a holiday to Scandinavia, Iceland or Canada. If you don’t want to run the risk of just missing it, a Noorderlicht app can help you. We list the three best northern lights apps for you.

Northern lights apps

Apps are not only available for forecasting the weather, an application can also help you for the northern lights. You can stare endlessly out the window, but it does not always have to be clearly visible to the naked eye. During my trip through Sweden and Norway, and also in Iceland, several Northern Lights apps came in handy. It told me what the odds are that I would be in an hour and how intense the Northern Lights would be then. We list the three best apps for the Northern Lights below.

My Aurora Forecast

The My Aurora Forecast app provides the Northern Lights forecasts for today. On the home screen you will immediately find the KP index in which you can read how powerful the northern lights are. By tapping on it you can determine the location automatically or manually. Below that you will find the ‘Aurora Map’ with which you can see on the map what the range of the light is at the moment. You can also consult an overview of locations where the northern lights can best be viewed at the moment.

In the other tabs you get different information. For example, you can see the forecast for the next half hour every 5 minutes and how much cloud there is. The chances of seeing it may be high, but cloud cover may be as high as 100 percent. Then assume you don’t see it. You also see the forecast for the coming days and hours, along with the wind speed of the light and you also see images of the sun. You can set the app to send a northern lights alert, which warns you if there is a good chance that you can see the northern lights.

AuroraNotifier

Another useful app is ‘AuroraNotifier’. This application starts directly with the globe above which, when active, the Northern Lights are animated. So you can immediately see where the aurora is active. You can also set a notification in this app when the Northern Lights are active.

Aurora Forecast

Finally, there is the Aurora Forecast app. This application is partly similar to the first app we discussed. With the application you can see at a glance whether there is a chance that you can see the Northern Lights at the moment. The cloud cover and KP Index are also immediately displayed and you can show the current position of the light on a map. The forecast for the next hour is displayed in the second tab. In the third tab we find another useful addition; the KP Index forecast for the next three days every three hours. In addition, the long-term forecast for the next 27 days is shown in the Aurora Forecast app.

Arcticans Aurora Forecast

A recently released app is Arcticans Aurora Forecast. This application describes itself as the Swiss Army Knife for the modern Northern Lights hunter. You will be notified when the light is visible above you, as well as when it is about to arrive. The app uses its own smart algorithm, so you should get even better estimates and experiences in the app. Arcticans Aurora Forecast provides forecasts based on a set location, you see the solar wind data for the past 6 hours, as well as the current one, and there are several other new features for the true Northern Lights enthusiast. The application costs you 4.99 euros once.

If you want to photograph the Northern Lights; make sure to bring a tripod. Read carefully in advance about the settings that are best for you. In addition, you can play with the settings at the moment, so that you get some variation. But above all; don’t forget to enjoy the Northern Lights themselves; it’s unforgettable!