Can you see the northern lights in Aykhal in December?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Aykhal have civil darkness, and 5% of past December days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Aykhal in December?

Aykhal averages 17.4 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 16 h 55 min on the 1st to 17 h 26 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Aykhal in December?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Aykhal's 1 degree cell 44% mean cloud in December, against 62% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Aykhal?

By darkness and moon alone, Dec 2, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Aykhal. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is December or January better in Aykhal?

By civil night times the clear share, December scores 9.8 hours at Aykhal and January 9.1. December comes out ahead.

Aykhal · December 2026

Northern lights in Aykhal in December 2026

Answer

December gives Aykhal 17.5 hours of civil night on the 15th, the darkest month of its year, under 44% mean cloud. 5% of December days since 1996 reached Kp 5, enough for the oval edge to reach Aykhal.

17.4 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 65.93, 111.48; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

December against the rest of the year

9.1

7.9

5.5

2.3

0.0

1.3

2.1

2.3

6.4

9.8

December cloud at Aykhal averages 44% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 18 points clearer than its yearly mean. February is Aykhal's clearest month at 42%. That makes December the best month of Aykhal's year by civil night times clear sky, 9.8 hours. Talnakh, 1,043 km away, averages 58%, cloudier by 14 points.

Civil night at Aykhal starts December at 16 h 55 min and reaches 17 h 26 min by December 31 as the nights lengthen by 0.5 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 12.9 hours on the 15th.

December night by night

December opens toward a new moon on Dec 9, with full moon on Dec 24, in Asia/Yakutsk dates. Aykhal gets 291 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: Dec 2 (4 h), Dec 3 (4 h), Dec 4 (4 h).

1
46% lit
8.4 h
2
36% lit
10.2 h
3
26% lit
11.9 h
4
18% lit
13.7 h
5
11% lit
15.7 h
6
6% lit
17.2 h
7
2% lit
17.3 h
8
0% lit
17.3 h
9
0% lit
17.4 h
New
10
2% lit
17.4 h
11
6% lit
17.4 h
12
11% lit
17.3 h
13
18% lit
14.9 h
14
26% lit
13.0 h
15
34% lit
11.3 h
16
44% lit
9.7 h
17
54% lit
8.0 h
18
64% lit
6.3 h
19
74% lit
4.3 h
20
83% lit
2.0 h
21
91% lit
0.0 h
22
97% lit
0.0 h
23
100% lit
0.0 h
24
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
96% lit
0.0 h
26
90% lit
1.8 h
27
82% lit
4.0 h
28
73% lit
6.0 h
29
62% lit
7.8 h
30
52% lit
9.6 h
31
42% lit
11.4 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 Decembers

Aykhal needs Kp 5 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 44 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (5%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three quietest months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 5%. Aykhal sits at 56.7 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

December across Russia

Aykhal ranks 18th in Russia for civil night on December 15, behind Talnakh at 19.1 hours. Coming from November (15.7 hours at Aykhal), December adds darkness, and January brings shorter nights (16.6 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 22, 05:49 Aykhal time.

Civil night on December 15 and December cloud, month-page towns in Russia
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Talnakh	19.1 h	58%
Zapolyarnyy	19.1 h	86%
Nikel	19.1 h	86%
Norilsk	19.0 h	58%
Kayyerkan	19.0 h	59%
Dudinka	19.0 h	59%
Severomorsk	18.9 h	85%
Murmansk	18.8 h	84%
Olenegorsk	18.4 h	84%
Monchegorsk	18.3 h	80%
Apatity	18.2 h	80%
Narian-Mar	18.2 h	79%
Aykhal	17.5 h	44%

Darkness and moon, every night

Aykhal, December 2026: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Tue Dec 1	16 h 55 min	12 h 28 min	8 h 22 min	3 h 19 min	46%
Wed Dec 2	16 h 59 min	12 h 31 min	10 h 9 min	4 h	36%
Thu Dec 3	17 h 3 min	12 h 33 min	11 h 55 min	4 h	26%
Fri Dec 4	17 h 6 min	12 h 36 min	13 h 44 min	4 h	18%
Sat Dec 5	17 h 9 min	12 h 38 min	15 h 43 min	4 h	11%
Sun Dec 6	17 h 13 min	12 h 40 min	17 h 13 min	4 h	6%
Mon Dec 7	17 h 15 min	12 h 43 min	17 h 15 min	4 h	2%
Tue Dec 8	17 h 18 min	12 h 44 min	17 h 18 min	4 h	0%
Wed Dec 9	17 h 21 min	12 h 46 min	17 h 21 min	4 h	0%
Thu Dec 10	17 h 23 min	12 h 48 min	17 h 23 min	4 h	2%
Fri Dec 11	17 h 25 min	12 h 49 min	17 h 25 min	4 h	6%
Sat Dec 12	17 h 27 min	12 h 51 min	17 h 20 min	4 h	11%
Sun Dec 13	17 h 29 min	12 h 52 min	14 h 52 min	4 h	18%
Mon Dec 14	17 h 31 min	12 h 53 min	13 h	4 h	26%
Tue Dec 15	17 h 32 min	12 h 54 min	11 h 19 min	3 h 3 min	34%
Wed Dec 16	17 h 33 min	12 h 55 min	9 h 41 min	1 h 24 min	44%
Thu Dec 17	17 h 34 min	12 h 56 min	8 h 1 min	0 min	54%
Fri Dec 18	17 h 35 min	12 h 56 min	6 h 16 min	0 min	64%
Sat Dec 19	17 h 36 min	12 h 57 min	4 h 20 min	0 min	74%
Sun Dec 20	17 h 36 min	12 h 57 min	2 h 1 min	0 min	83%
Mon Dec 21	17 h 36 min	12 h 57 min	0 min	0 min	91%
Tue Dec 22	17 h 36 min	12 h 57 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Wed Dec 23	17 h 36 min	12 h 57 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu Dec 24	17 h 35 min	12 h 56 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Fri Dec 25	17 h 35 min	12 h 56 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Sat Dec 26	17 h 34 min	12 h 55 min	1 h 47 min	0 min	90%
Sun Dec 27	17 h 33 min	12 h 54 min	4 h 3 min	0 min	82%
Mon Dec 28	17 h 31 min	12 h 54 min	6 h 1 min	51 min	73%
Tue Dec 29	17 h 30 min	12 h 53 min	7 h 50 min	2 h 41 min	62%
Wed Dec 30	17 h 28 min	12 h 51 min	9 h 36 min	4 h	52%
Thu Dec 31	17 h 26 min	12 h 50 min	11 h 22 min	4 h	42%

Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Aykhal in December?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Aykhal have civil darkness, and 5% of past December days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Aykhal in December?: Aykhal averages 17.4 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 16 h 55 min on the 1st to 17 h 26 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Aykhal in December?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Aykhal's 1 degree cell 44% mean cloud in December, against 62% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Aykhal?: By darkness and moon alone, Dec 2, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Aykhal. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is December or January better in Aykhal?: By civil night times the clear share, December scores 9.8 hours at Aykhal and January 9.1. December 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.