Cameras: 150 · Countries: 15

Live aurora webcams

Public all-sky and scenic cameras under the auroral oval. We check every camera every few minutes: is it dark there, is the Kp index high enough for it, and is the sky clear? The best ones right now are at the top.

Worth opening right now

Dark, clear enough and with enough geomagnetic activity for the aurora to be on camera.

Vardø webcams (Yr) Norway · Scenic Worth watching Dark · Kp 2.3 / 2 · cloud 1%
Kirkenes – Bøkfjorden Norway · Scenic Worth watching Dark · Kp 2.3 / 2 · cloud 0%
Ruka Finland · Scenic Worth watching Dark · Kp 2.3 / 2 · cloud 0%
Ruka – Lumo Resort aurora cam Finland · Scenic Worth watching Dark · Kp 2.3 / 2 · cloud 0%
Narsarsuaq all-sky camera Greenland · All-sky Worth watching Dark · Kp 2.3 / 2 · cloud 0%
Nyrölä all-sky camera Finland · All-sky Worth watching Dark · Kp 2.3 / 2 · cloud 3%

All cameras by country

The status next to each camera is live. Open a camera for details, the live stream and the forecast nearby.

Aurora webcams in Antarctica (6)

Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station Scenic Daylight
Scott Base Scenic Daylight
McMurdo Station Scenic Daylight
Davis station Scenic Daylight
Mawson station Scenic Daylight
Casey station Scenic Daylight

Aurora webcams in Svalbard & Jan Mayen (6)

Jan Mayen webcams (Yr) Scenic Cloudy
Bjørnøya (Bear Island) webcam (Yr) Scenic Cloudy
Ny-Ålesund (Zeppelin Observatory) webcam Scenic Cloudy
Longyearbyen webcams (Yr) Scenic Cloudy
Longyearbyen – UNIS rooftop webcam Scenic Cloudy
Kjell Henriksen Observatory all-sky camera All-sky Cloudy

Aurora webcams in Greenland (5)

Narsarsuaq all-sky camera All-sky Worth watching
Nuuk airport (looking north) Scenic Possible
Nuuk – Nuup Saava Scenic Possible
Kangerlussuaq Scenic Cloudy
Sisimiut airport Scenic Cloudy

Aurora webcams in Sweden (5)

Tjautjas all-sky imager All-sky Cloudy
Björkliden (Torneträsk) live webcams Scenic Cloudy
Abisko aurora webcam Scenic Cloudy
Aurora Sky Station, Abisko Scenic Cloudy
Kiruna all-sky camera All-sky Cloudy

Aurora webcams in Canada (4)

Churchill northern lights cam Scenic Cloudy
AuroraMAX, Yellowknife All-sky Daylight
Cold Lake, Alberta Scenic Daylight
Banff & Lake Louise webcams Scenic Daylight

Aurora webcams in Chile (3)

Punta Arenas Scenic Quiet
Torres del Paine, Patagonia Scenic Quiet
Puerto Williams Scenic Quiet

Aurora webcams in Argentina (2)

Tolhuin, Tierra del Fuego Scenic Quiet
Ushuaia Scenic Quiet

Australia (1)

Macquarie Island station Scenic Daylight

Faroe Islands (1)

Syðrugøta, Eysturoy Scenic Cloudy

New Zealand (1)

Castlepoint lighthouse Scenic Daylight

How we rank the cameras

For each camera we compute the sun's altitude (the aurora shows only when the sun is more than 6° and ideally 12° below the horizon), compare the live Kp index with the Kp a camera needs at its geomagnetic latitude, add NOAA's OVATION nowcast and read the cloud cover forecast for the current hour. Together they give a score from 0 to 100.

All-sky and scenic cameras

All-sky cameras look straight up with a fisheye lens and are run by research stations; they record even faint aurora but show it as a circle. Scenic cameras point at the horizon over a town, lake or mountain: prettier, but they need the aurora to reach their side of the sky.

What the status means

“Worth watching” means dark, clear and active enough for this camera now. “Possible” means one of the three is borderline. “Quiet” means dark but not enough activity. “Cloudy” means the forecast shows thick cloud there. “Daylight” means the sun is too high.

Questions and answers

Where can I watch the northern lights live?

On the public webcams on this page: Norway, Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Canada and Alaska have the most. The list at the top shows which cameras are dark, clear and under enough activity right now.

Why do aurora webcams look dark or show nothing?

Most of the day they film daylight or twilight, and in summer there is no dark night under the oval at all. At night the sky can be cloudy, or the Kp index too low for the aurora to reach that camera.

Do cameras see more aurora than the eye?

Yes. A camera's long exposure records faint aurora that looks grey or invisible to the eye, so a camera can show green at a Kp index one or two points lower than you would need to see it.

When is the best time to watch an aurora webcam?

Between September and March, around local magnetic midnight (roughly 22:00 to 02:00), and especially when the Kp index is 4 or more. Our alerts tell you when that happens.

These cameras belong to their owners — we only link to them. Most show little in daylight or under cloud, and some pause in summer.