Can you see the southern lights in Launceston in September?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Launceston have civil darkness, and 0% of past September days reached Kp 9.

How dark is Launceston in September?

Launceston averages 11.2 hours of civil night a night in September 2027, from 11 h 49 min on the 1st to 10 h 30 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Launceston in September?

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

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

By darkness and moon alone, Sep 1, 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 September or October better in Launceston?

By civil night times the clear share, September scores 4.4 hours at Launceston and October 3.8. September comes out ahead.

Launceston · September 2027

Southern lights in Launceston in September 2027

Answer

September gives Launceston 11.2 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 6th darkest of its 12 months, under 61% mean cloud. 0% of September days since 1996 reached Kp 9, enough for the oval edge to reach Launceston.

11.2 h

civil night, average night

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

September 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

September cloud at Launceston averages 61% 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, September scores 4.4 hours at Launceston, 6th of 12. Anadyr, 12,099 km away, averages 69%, cloudier by 8 points.

Civil night at Launceston starts September at 11 h 49 min and reaches 10 h 30 min by September 30, 1.3 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 9.0 hours on the 15th.

September night by night

September opens toward a new moon on Sep 1 and Sep 30, with full moon on Sep 16, in Australia/Hobart dates. Launceston gets 164 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: Sep 1 (4 h), Sep 2 (4 h), Sep 3 (4 h).

1
1% lit
11.6 h
New
2
5% lit
10.3 h
3
11% lit
9.1 h
4
19% lit
7.8 h
5
28% lit
6.6 h
6
38% lit
5.4 h
7
48% lit
4.4 h
8
58% lit
3.4 h
9
67% lit
2.6 h
10
76% lit
2.0 h
11
83% lit
1.4 h
12
90% lit
0.9 h
13
95% lit
0.5 h
14
98% lit
0.1 h
15
100% lit
0.0 h
16
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
17
97% lit
1.0 h
18
93% lit
2.0 h
19
87% lit
3.2 h
20
79% lit
4.3 h
21
70% lit
5.4 h
22
60% lit
6.5 h
23
48% lit
7.5 h
24
37% lit
8.2 h
25
26% lit
8.9 h
26
17% lit
9.4 h
27
9% lit
9.9 h
28
3% lit
10.3 h
29
1% lit
10.6 h
30
0% lit
10.5 h
New

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 Septembers

Launceston needs Kp 9 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 0 of the 900 September 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 14%. 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.

September across Australia

Coming from August (12.5 hours at Launceston), September loses darkness, and October brings shorter nights (9.8 hours on the 15th). The September equinox falls on September 23, 15:56 Launceston time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.

Darkness and moon, every night

Launceston, September 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
Wed Sep 1	11 h 49 min	9 h 40 min	11 h 37 min	4 h	1%
Thu Sep 2	11 h 46 min	9 h 38 min	10 h 19 min	4 h	5%
Fri Sep 3	11 h 43 min	9 h 35 min	9 h 3 min	4 h	11%
Sat Sep 4	11 h 41 min	9 h 33 min	7 h 48 min	3 h 47 min	19%
Sun Sep 5	11 h 38 min	9 h 30 min	6 h 35 min	2 h 36 min	28%
Mon Sep 6	11 h 36 min	9 h 27 min	5 h 25 min	1 h 28 min	38%
Tue Sep 7	11 h 33 min	9 h 25 min	4 h 22 min	26 min	48%
Wed Sep 8	11 h 30 min	9 h 22 min	3 h 26 min	0 min	58%
Thu Sep 9	11 h 28 min	9 h 19 min	2 h 38 min	0 min	67%
Fri Sep 10	11 h 25 min	9 h 16 min	1 h 58 min	0 min	76%
Sat Sep 11	11 h 22 min	9 h 14 min	1 h 25 min	0 min	83%
Sun Sep 12	11 h 20 min	9 h 11 min	57 min	0 min	90%
Mon Sep 13	11 h 17 min	9 h 8 min	32 min	0 min	95%
Tue Sep 14	11 h 14 min	9 h 5 min	9 min	0 min	98%
Wed Sep 15	11 h 12 min	9 h 2 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu Sep 16	11 h 9 min	8 h 59 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri Sep 17	11 h 6 min	8 h 57 min	59 min	0 min	97%
Sat Sep 18	11 h 3 min	8 h 54 min	2 h 3 min	0 min	93%
Sun Sep 19	11 h 1 min	8 h 51 min	3 h 10 min	0 min	87%
Mon Sep 20	10 h 58 min	8 h 48 min	4 h 18 min	54 min	79%
Tue Sep 21	10 h 55 min	8 h 45 min	5 h 26 min	2 h 3 min	70%
Wed Sep 22	10 h 52 min	8 h 42 min	6 h 30 min	3 h 8 min	60%
Thu Sep 23	10 h 50 min	8 h 39 min	7 h 27 min	4 h	48%
Fri Sep 24	10 h 47 min	8 h 36 min	8 h 14 min	4 h	37%
Sat Sep 25	10 h 44 min	8 h 33 min	8 h 53 min	4 h	26%
Sun Sep 26	10 h 41 min	8 h 29 min	9 h 25 min	4 h	17%
Mon Sep 27	10 h 38 min	8 h 26 min	9 h 52 min	4 h	9%
Tue Sep 28	10 h 36 min	8 h 23 min	10 h 17 min	4 h	3%
Wed Sep 29	10 h 33 min	8 h 20 min	10 h 33 min	4 h	1%
Thu Sep 30	10 h 30 min	8 h 17 min	10 h 30 min	4 h	0%

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 September?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Launceston have civil darkness, and 0% of past September days reached Kp 9.
How dark is Launceston in September?: Launceston averages 11.2 hours of civil night a night in September 2027, from 11 h 49 min on the 1st to 10 h 30 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Launceston in September?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Launceston's 1 degree cell 61% mean cloud in September, against 61% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in September 2027 for aurora in Launceston?: By darkness and moon alone, Sep 1, 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 September or October better in Launceston?: By civil night times the clear share, September scores 4.4 hours at Launceston and October 3.8. September 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.