Can you see the southern lights in Launceston in December?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Launceston have civil darkness, and 0% of past December days reached Kp 9.

How dark is Launceston in December?

Launceston averages 7.7 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 7 h 51 min on the 1st to 7 h 39 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Launceston in December?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Launceston's 1 degree cell 62% mean cloud in December, against 61% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is December or January better in Launceston?

By civil night times the clear share, December scores 2.9 hours at Launceston and January 3.4. January comes out ahead.

Launceston · December 2026

Southern lights in Launceston in December 2026

Answer

December gives Launceston 7.6 hours of civil night on the 15th, the lightest month of its year, under 62% mean cloud. 0% of December days since 1996 reached Kp 9, enough for the oval edge to reach Launceston.

7.7 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for -41.44, 147.13; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

December against the rest of the year

3.4

3.6

4.2

4.7

5.2

5.5

5.2

4.9

4.4

3.8

3.0

2.9

December cloud at Launceston averages 62% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 61%. January is Launceston's clearest month at 58%. By civil night times clear sky, December scores 2.9 hours at Launceston, 12th of 12. Anadyr, 12,099 km away, averages 60%, clearer by 2 points.

Civil night at Launceston starts December at 7 h 51 min and reaches 7 h 39 min by December 31, 0.2 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 4.4 hours on the 15th.

December night by night

December opens toward a new moon on Dec 9, with full moon on Dec 24, in Australia/Hobart dates. Launceston gets 126 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
47% lit
4.7 h
2
37% lit
5.0 h
3
27% lit
5.4 h
4
18% lit
5.7 h
5
11% lit
6.1 h
6
6% lit
6.6 h
7
2% lit
7.2 h
8
0% lit
7.7 h
9
0% lit
7.7 h
New
10
2% lit
7.0 h
11
6% lit
6.3 h
12
11% lit
5.7 h
13
17% lit
5.2 h
14
25% lit
4.8 h
15
34% lit
4.5 h
16
43% lit
4.1 h
17
53% lit
3.8 h
18
64% lit
3.4 h
19
74% lit
3.0 h
20
83% lit
2.5 h
21
91% lit
1.9 h
22
96% lit
1.1 h
23
99% lit
0.0 h
24
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
97% lit
0.8 h
26
91% lit
1.5 h
27
83% lit
2.0 h
28
74% lit
2.4 h
29
63% lit
2.8 h
30
53% lit
3.1 h
31
42% lit
3.5 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

Launceston needs Kp 9 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 0 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (0%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 4th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 5%. Launceston sits at 48.2 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G4 (Kp = 8, including a 9-). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 9.

December across Australia

Coming from November (8.4 hours at Launceston), December loses darkness, and the nights keep growing into January (8.0 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 22, 07:49 Launceston time.

Darkness and moon, every night

Launceston, 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	7 h 51 min	4 h 47 min	4 h 42 min	3 h 47 min	47%
Wed Dec 2	7 h 50 min	4 h 45 min	5 h 3 min	4 h	37%
Thu Dec 3	7 h 48 min	4 h 43 min	5 h 23 min	4 h	27%
Fri Dec 4	7 h 47 min	4 h 40 min	5 h 44 min	4 h	18%
Sat Dec 5	7 h 46 min	4 h 38 min	6 h 8 min	4 h	11%
Sun Dec 6	7 h 44 min	4 h 36 min	6 h 36 min	4 h	6%
Mon Dec 7	7 h 43 min	4 h 34 min	7 h 10 min	4 h	2%
Tue Dec 8	7 h 42 min	4 h 32 min	7 h 42 min	4 h	0%
Wed Dec 9	7 h 41 min	4 h 30 min	7 h 41 min	4 h	0%
Thu Dec 10	7 h 40 min	4 h 29 min	6 h 57 min	4 h	2%
Fri Dec 11	7 h 39 min	4 h 27 min	6 h 16 min	3 h 22 min	6%
Sat Dec 12	7 h 38 min	4 h 26 min	5 h 42 min	2 h 47 min	11%
Sun Dec 13	7 h 38 min	4 h 25 min	5 h 13 min	2 h 19 min	17%
Mon Dec 14	7 h 37 min	4 h 24 min	4 h 49 min	1 h 54 min	25%
Tue Dec 15	7 h 37 min	4 h 23 min	4 h 27 min	1 h 32 min	34%
Wed Dec 16	7 h 36 min	4 h 22 min	4 h 7 min	1 h 12 min	43%
Thu Dec 17	7 h 36 min	4 h 21 min	3 h 47 min	52 min	53%
Fri Dec 18	7 h 35 min	4 h 21 min	3 h 25 min	30 min	64%
Sat Dec 19	7 h 35 min	4 h 20 min	3 h 1 min	5 min	74%
Sun Dec 20	7 h 35 min	4 h 20 min	2 h 32 min	0 min	83%
Mon Dec 21	7 h 35 min	4 h 20 min	1 h 54 min	0 min	91%
Tue Dec 22	7 h 35 min	4 h 20 min	1 h 4 min	0 min	96%
Wed Dec 23	7 h 35 min	4 h 20 min	1 min	0 min	99%
Thu Dec 24	7 h 35 min	4 h 20 min	1 min	0 min	100%
Fri Dec 25	7 h 35 min	4 h 21 min	51 min	14 min	97%
Sat Dec 26	7 h 36 min	4 h 21 min	1 h 29 min	53 min	91%
Sun Dec 27	7 h 36 min	4 h 22 min	1 h 59 min	1 h 24 min	83%
Mon Dec 28	7 h 37 min	4 h 23 min	2 h 25 min	1 h 49 min	74%
Tue Dec 29	7 h 37 min	4 h 24 min	2 h 47 min	2 h 12 min	63%
Wed Dec 30	7 h 38 min	4 h 25 min	3 h 9 min	2 h 34 min	53%
Thu Dec 31	7 h 39 min	4 h 27 min	3 h 32 min	2 h 57 min	42%

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

Questions

Can you see the southern lights in Launceston in December?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Launceston have civil darkness, and 0% of past December days reached Kp 9.
How dark is Launceston in December?: Launceston averages 7.7 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 7 h 51 min on the 1st to 7 h 39 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Launceston in December?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Launceston's 1 degree cell 62% mean cloud in December, against 61% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Launceston?: By darkness and moon alone, Dec 2, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Launceston. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is December or January better in Launceston?: By civil night times the clear share, December scores 2.9 hours at Launceston and January 3.4. 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.