Can you see the southern lights in Launceston in January?

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

How dark is Launceston in January?

Launceston averages 8.1 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 7 h 40 min on the 1st to 8 h 35 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Launceston in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Launceston's 1 degree cell 58% mean cloud in January, against 61% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Jan 3, 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 January or February better in Launceston?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.4 hours at Launceston and February 3.6. February comes out ahead.

Launceston · January 2027

Southern lights in Launceston in January 2027

Answer

January gives Launceston 8.0 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 11th darkest of its 12 months, under 58% mean cloud. 0% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 9, enough for the oval edge to reach Launceston.

8.1 h

civil night, average night

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

January 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

January cloud at Launceston averages 58% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 3 points clearer than its yearly mean. No month at Launceston is clearer. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 3.4 hours at Launceston, 10th of 12. Anadyr, 12,099 km away, averages the same 58%.

Civil night at Launceston starts January at 7 h 40 min and reaches 8 h 35 min by January 31 as the nights lengthen by 0.9 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 5.0 hours on the 15th.

January night by night

January opens toward a new moon on Jan 8, with full moon on Jan 22, in Australia/Hobart dates. Launceston gets 128 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 3 (4 h), Jan 4 (4 h), Jan 5 (4 h).

1
33% lit
3.9 h
2
24% lit
4.4 h
3
16% lit
4.9 h
4
10% lit
5.6 h
5
5% lit
6.4 h
6
2% lit
7.3 h
7
0% lit
7.8 h
8
0% lit
7.8 h
New
9
3% lit
7.5 h
10
6% lit
7.1 h
11
12% lit
6.7 h
12
19% lit
6.4 h
13
27% lit
6.1 h
14
37% lit
5.8 h
15
47% lit
5.4 h
16
57% lit
5.0 h
17
68% lit
4.5 h
18
78% lit
3.8 h
19
87% lit
2.9 h
20
94% lit
1.8 h
21
99% lit
0.5 h
22
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
98% lit
0.1 h
24
94% lit
0.6 h
25
87% lit
1.0 h
26
79% lit
1.4 h
27
69% lit
1.8 h
28
59% lit
2.2 h
29
49% lit
2.7 h
30
39% lit
3.2 h
31
30% lit
3.9 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

Launceston needs Kp 9 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 0 of the 930 January 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 6%. 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.

January across Australia

Coming from December (7.6 hours at Launceston), January adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into February (9.3 hours on the 15th).

Darkness and moon, every night

Launceston, 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	7 h 40 min	4 h 28 min	3 h 56 min	3 h 21 min	33%
Sat Jan 2	7 h 41 min	4 h 30 min	4 h 24 min	3 h 49 min	24%
Sun Jan 3	7 h 42 min	4 h 31 min	4 h 56 min	4 h	16%
Mon Jan 4	7 h 43 min	4 h 33 min	5 h 36 min	4 h	10%
Tue Jan 5	7 h 44 min	4 h 35 min	6 h 22 min	4 h	5%
Wed Jan 6	7 h 45 min	4 h 37 min	7 h 16 min	4 h	2%
Thu Jan 7	7 h 46 min	4 h 39 min	7 h 46 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	7 h 48 min	4 h 41 min	7 h 48 min	4 h	0%
Sat Jan 9	7 h 49 min	4 h 44 min	7 h 29 min	4 h	3%
Sun Jan 10	7 h 51 min	4 h 46 min	7 h 4 min	3 h 50 min	6%
Mon Jan 11	7 h 52 min	4 h 49 min	6 h 43 min	3 h 27 min	12%
Tue Jan 12	7 h 54 min	4 h 51 min	6 h 24 min	3 h 7 min	19%
Wed Jan 13	7 h 55 min	4 h 54 min	6 h 5 min	2 h 47 min	27%
Thu Jan 14	7 h 57 min	4 h 57 min	5 h 46 min	2 h 26 min	37%
Fri Jan 15	7 h 59 min	5 h	5 h 24 min	2 h 4 min	47%
Sat Jan 16	8 h 1 min	5 h 3 min	4 h 59 min	1 h 37 min	57%
Sun Jan 17	8 h 3 min	5 h 6 min	4 h 28 min	1 h 5 min	68%
Mon Jan 18	8 h 5 min	5 h 9 min	3 h 47 min	22 min	78%
Tue Jan 19	8 h 7 min	5 h 12 min	2 h 53 min	0 min	87%
Wed Jan 20	8 h 9 min	5 h 15 min	1 h 45 min	0 min	94%
Thu Jan 21	8 h 11 min	5 h 18 min	28 min	0 min	99%
Fri Jan 22	8 h 13 min	5 h 21 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sat Jan 23	8 h 15 min	5 h 25 min	4 min	0 min	98%
Sun Jan 24	8 h 18 min	5 h 28 min	33 min	0 min	94%
Mon Jan 25	8 h 20 min	5 h 32 min	59 min	13 min	87%
Tue Jan 26	8 h 22 min	5 h 35 min	1 h 23 min	36 min	79%
Wed Jan 27	8 h 25 min	5 h 38 min	1 h 47 min	59 min	69%
Thu Jan 28	8 h 27 min	5 h 42 min	2 h 12 min	1 h 23 min	59%
Fri Jan 29	8 h 30 min	5 h 45 min	2 h 40 min	1 h 50 min	49%
Sat Jan 30	8 h 32 min	5 h 49 min	3 h 13 min	2 h 22 min	39%
Sun Jan 31	8 h 35 min	5 h 52 min	3 h 51 min	2 h 59 min	30%

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 January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Launceston have civil darkness, and 0% of past January days reached Kp 9.
How dark is Launceston in January?: Launceston averages 8.1 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 7 h 40 min on the 1st to 8 h 35 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Launceston in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Launceston's 1 degree cell 58% mean cloud in January, against 61% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Launceston?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 3, 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 January or February better in Launceston?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.4 hours at Launceston and February 3.6. February 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.