Ashburton · October 2026
Southern lights in Ashburton in October 2026
Answer
October against the rest of the year
October cloud at Ashburton averages 68% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 3 points cloudier than its yearly mean. June is Ashburton's clearest month at 60%. By civil night times clear sky, October scores 3.1 hours at Ashburton, 9th of 12. Seattle, 12,042 km away, averages the same 68%.
Civil night at Ashburton starts October at 10 h 22 min and reaches 8 h 49 min by October 31, 1.6 hours shorter. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 7.2 hours on the 15th.
October night by night
October opens toward a new moon on Oct 11, with full moon on Oct 26, in Pacific/Auckland dates. Ashburton gets 156 hours of civil night with the moon below the horizon across the month. The best of them for moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM: Oct 2 (4 h), Oct 3 (4 h), Oct 4 (4 h).
- 1
73% lit
5.3 h
- 2
63% lit
6.4 h
- 3
51% lit
7.3 h
- 4
40% lit
8.0 h
- 5
29% lit
8.6 h
- 6
20% lit
9.0 h
- 7
12% lit
9.3 h
- 8
5% lit
9.6 h
- 9
2% lit
9.9 h
- 10
0% lit
9.9 h
- 11
1% lit
9.7 h
- 12
4% lit
8.5 h
- 13
8% lit
7.3 h
- 14
14% lit
6.2 h
- 15
22% lit
5.1 h
- 16
30% lit
4.2 h
- 17
39% lit
3.5 h
- 18
48% lit
2.9 h
- 19
58% lit
2.4 h
- 20
67% lit
1.9 h
- 21
76% lit
1.5 h
- 22
84% lit
1.2 h
- 23
91% lit
0.8 h
- 24
96% lit
0.5 h
- 25
99% lit
0.0 h
- 26
100% lit
0.0 h
- 27
98% lit
1.1 h
- 28
93% lit
2.4 h
- 29
85% lit
3.6 h
- 30
76% lit
4.6 h
- 31
66% lit
5.4 h
Each cell is the night that starts on that date. Hours are civil-dark time with the moon below the horizon; the green rule scales with them. Green outline: new moon. Bone outline: full moon.
Activity in past Octobers
No whole Kp puts the average oval edge over Ashburton by SWPC's rule, so the GFZ record has no threshold to count for October. Ashburton sits at 47.2 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G4 (Kp = 8, including a 9-). Even Kp 9 does not put the average oval edge overhead by SWPC's rule.
October across New Zealand
Coming from September (11.2 hours at Ashburton), October loses darkness, and November brings shorter nights (8.1 hours on the 15th).
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu Oct 1 | 10 h 22 min | 8 h 2 min | 5 h 18 min | 3 h 30 min | 73% |
| Fri Oct 2 | 10 h 19 min | 7 h 58 min | 6 h 25 min | 4 h | 63% |
| Sat Oct 3 | 10 h 15 min | 7 h 55 min | 7 h 19 min | 4 h | 51% |
| Sun Oct 4 | 10 h 12 min | 7 h 51 min | 8 h 1 min | 4 h | 40% |
| Mon Oct 5 | 10 h 9 min | 7 h 47 min | 8 h 33 min | 4 h | 29% |
| Tue Oct 6 | 10 h 6 min | 7 h 44 min | 8 h 58 min | 4 h | 20% |
| Wed Oct 7 | 10 h 3 min | 7 h 40 min | 9 h 19 min | 4 h | 12% |
| Thu Oct 8 | 10 h | 7 h 36 min | 9 h 38 min | 4 h | 5% |
| Fri Oct 9 | 9 h 57 min | 7 h 33 min | 9 h 56 min | 4 h | 2% |
| Sat Oct 10 | 9 h 54 min | 7 h 29 min | 9 h 54 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Sun Oct 11 | 9 h 51 min | 7 h 25 min | 9 h 39 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Mon Oct 12 | 9 h 47 min | 7 h 22 min | 8 h 28 min | 4 h | 4% |
| Tue Oct 13 | 9 h 44 min | 7 h 18 min | 7 h 17 min | 3 h 6 min | 8% |
| Wed Oct 14 | 9 h 41 min | 7 h 14 min | 6 h 10 min | 2 h 1 min | 14% |
| Thu Oct 15 | 9 h 38 min | 7 h 10 min | 5 h 8 min | 1 h 1 min | 22% |
| Fri Oct 16 | 9 h 35 min | 7 h 6 min | 4 h 14 min | 9 min | 30% |
| Sat Oct 17 | 9 h 32 min | 7 h 2 min | 3 h 29 min | 0 min | 39% |
| Sun Oct 18 | 9 h 29 min | 6 h 58 min | 2 h 52 min | 0 min | 48% |
| Mon Oct 19 | 9 h 26 min | 6 h 55 min | 2 h 21 min | 0 min | 58% |
| Tue Oct 20 | 9 h 22 min | 6 h 51 min | 1 h 55 min | 0 min | 67% |
| Wed Oct 21 | 9 h 19 min | 6 h 47 min | 1 h 32 min | 0 min | 76% |
| Thu Oct 22 | 9 h 16 min | 6 h 43 min | 1 h 10 min | 0 min | 84% |
| Fri Oct 23 | 9 h 13 min | 6 h 39 min | 49 min | 0 min | 91% |
| Sat Oct 24 | 9 h 10 min | 6 h 35 min | 27 min | 0 min | 96% |
| Sun Oct 25 | 9 h 7 min | 6 h 31 min | 2 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Mon Oct 26 | 9 h 4 min | 6 h 27 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Tue Oct 27 | 9 h 1 min | 6 h 23 min | 1 h 7 min | 0 min | 98% |
| Wed Oct 28 | 8 h 58 min | 6 h 18 min | 2 h 26 min | 1 h 13 min | 93% |
| Thu Oct 29 | 8 h 55 min | 6 h 14 min | 3 h 38 min | 2 h 27 min | 85% |
| Fri Oct 30 | 8 h 52 min | 6 h 10 min | 4 h 38 min | 3 h 28 min | 76% |
| Sat Oct 31 | 8 h 49 min | 6 h 6 min | 5 h 24 min | 4 h | 66% |
Questions
- Can you see the southern lights in Ashburton in October?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Ashburton have civil darkness.
- How dark is Ashburton in October?
- Ashburton averages 9.6 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 10 h 22 min on the 1st to 8 h 49 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Ashburton in October?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Ashburton's 1 degree cell 68% mean cloud in October, against 65% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in October 2026 for aurora in Ashburton?
- By darkness and moon alone, Oct 2, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Ashburton. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is October or November better in Ashburton?
- By civil night times the clear share, October scores 3.1 hours at Ashburton and November 2.4. October comes out ahead.
Sources and verification
- SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
- NASA POWER climatologyhttps://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/climatology/
- GFZ Potsdam Kp indexhttps://kp.gfz.de/en/data
- NOAA SWPC, Tips on viewing the aurorahttps://www.spaceweather.gov/content/tips-viewing-aurora
Quoted figures last checked against their sources on 2026-09-30; next review 2026-12-31. Computed figures come from SunCalc and the IGRF-14 dipole as described in the methodology. Every quote is listed in the sources ledger.