Can you see the northern lights in Aykhal in January?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Aykhal have civil darkness, and 6% of past January days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Aykhal in January?

Aykhal averages 16.4 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 17 h 24 min on the 1st to 15 h 13 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Aykhal in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Aykhal's 1 degree cell 45% mean cloud in January, against 62% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Aykhal?

By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, 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 January or February better in Aykhal?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 9.1 hours at Aykhal and February 7.9. January comes out ahead.

Aykhal · January 2027

Northern lights in Aykhal in January 2027

Answer

January gives Aykhal 16.6 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 45% mean cloud. 6% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 5, enough for the oval edge to reach Aykhal.

16.4 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 65.93, 111.48; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January 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

January cloud at Aykhal averages 45% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 17 points clearer than its yearly mean. February is Aykhal's clearest month at 42%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 9.1 hours at Aykhal, 2nd of 12. Talnakh, 1,043 km away, averages 55%, cloudier by 10 points.

Civil night at Aykhal starts January at 17 h 24 min and reaches 15 h 13 min by January 31, 2.2 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 12.2 hours on the 15th.

January night by night

January opens toward a new moon on Jan 8, with full moon on Jan 22, in Asia/Yakutsk dates. Aykhal gets 293 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: Jan 1 (4 h), Jan 2 (4 h), Jan 3 (4 h).

1
32% lit
13.3 h
2
23% lit
15.6 h
3
15% lit
17.3 h
4
9% lit
17.3 h
5
5% lit
17.2 h
6
1% lit
17.2 h
7
0% lit
17.1 h
8
1% lit
17.1 h
New
9
3% lit
17.0 h
10
7% lit
15.3 h
11
12% lit
13.5 h
12
19% lit
11.8 h
13
28% lit
10.2 h
14
37% lit
8.4 h
15
48% lit
6.6 h
16
58% lit
4.5 h
17
69% lit
1.7 h
18
79% lit
0.0 h
19
88% lit
0.0 h
20
95% lit
0.0 h
21
99% lit
0.0 h
22
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
98% lit
0.1 h
24
94% lit
2.3 h
25
87% lit
4.2 h
26
78% lit
6.0 h
27
69% lit
7.8 h
28
59% lit
9.7 h
29
48% lit
11.9 h
30
39% lit
15.3 h
31
30% lit
15.2 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 Januarys

Aykhal needs Kp 5 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 58 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (6%) 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 6%. 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.

January across Russia

Aykhal ranks 18th in Russia for civil night on January 15, behind Norilsk at 17.7 hours. Coming from December (17.5 hours at Aykhal), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (13.6 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in Russia
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Norilsk	17.7 h	55%
Talnakh	17.7 h	55%
Kayyerkan	17.7 h	56%
Dudinka	17.7 h	56%
Zapolyarnyy	17.7 h	81%
Nikel	17.7 h	81%
Severomorsk	17.6 h	83%
Murmansk	17.5 h	78%
Monchegorsk	17.2 h	75%
Olenegorsk	17.2 h	78%
Apatity	17.1 h	75%
Narian-Mar	17.1 h	70%
Aykhal	16.6 h	45%

Darkness and moon, every night

Aykhal, January 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Fri Jan 1	17 h 24 min	12 h 48 min	13 h 15 min	4 h	32%
Sat Jan 2	17 h 22 min	12 h 47 min	15 h 33 min	4 h	23%
Sun Jan 3	17 h 19 min	12 h 45 min	17 h 19 min	4 h	15%
Mon Jan 4	17 h 16 min	12 h 43 min	17 h 16 min	4 h	9%
Tue Jan 5	17 h 13 min	12 h 41 min	17 h 13 min	4 h	5%
Wed Jan 6	17 h 10 min	12 h 39 min	17 h 10 min	4 h	1%
Thu Jan 7	17 h 7 min	12 h 37 min	17 h 7 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	17 h 4 min	12 h 34 min	17 h 4 min	4 h	1%
Sat Jan 9	17 h	12 h 32 min	17 h	4 h	3%
Sun Jan 10	16 h 57 min	12 h 29 min	15 h 16 min	4 h	7%
Mon Jan 11	16 h 53 min	12 h 26 min	13 h 30 min	4 h	12%
Tue Jan 12	16 h 49 min	12 h 23 min	11 h 49 min	3 h 43 min	19%
Wed Jan 13	16 h 45 min	12 h 20 min	10 h 9 min	2 h 5 min	28%
Thu Jan 14	16 h 40 min	12 h 17 min	8 h 27 min	24 min	37%
Fri Jan 15	16 h 36 min	12 h 14 min	6 h 36 min	0 min	48%
Sat Jan 16	16 h 32 min	12 h 10 min	4 h 31 min	0 min	58%
Sun Jan 17	16 h 27 min	12 h 7 min	1 h 42 min	0 min	69%
Mon Jan 18	16 h 22 min	12 h 3 min	0 min	0 min	79%
Tue Jan 19	16 h 17 min	11 h 59 min	0 min	0 min	88%
Wed Jan 20	16 h 12 min	11 h 56 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Thu Jan 21	16 h 7 min	11 h 52 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Fri Jan 22	16 h 2 min	11 h 48 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sat Jan 23	15 h 57 min	11 h 43 min	7 min	0 min	98%
Sun Jan 24	15 h 52 min	11 h 39 min	2 h 15 min	0 min	94%
Mon Jan 25	15 h 46 min	11 h 35 min	4 h 11 min	3 min	87%
Tue Jan 26	15 h 41 min	11 h 30 min	6 h	1 h 55 min	78%
Wed Jan 27	15 h 35 min	11 h 26 min	7 h 48 min	3 h 46 min	69%
Thu Jan 28	15 h 30 min	11 h 21 min	9 h 40 min	4 h	59%
Fri Jan 29	15 h 24 min	11 h 16 min	11 h 52 min	4 h	48%
Sat Jan 30	15 h 18 min	11 h 11 min	15 h 18 min	4 h	39%
Sun Jan 31	15 h 13 min	11 h 7 min	15 h 13 min	4 h	30%

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 January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Aykhal have civil darkness, and 6% of past January days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Aykhal in January?: Aykhal averages 16.4 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 17 h 24 min on the 1st to 15 h 13 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Aykhal in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Aykhal's 1 degree cell 45% mean cloud in January, against 62% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Aykhal?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, 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 January or February better in Aykhal?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 9.1 hours at Aykhal and February 7.9. January 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.