Longyearbyen · October 2026
Northern lights in Longyearbyen in October 2026
Answer
October against the rest of the year
October cloud at Longyearbyen averages 79% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 3 points cloudier than its yearly mean. April is Longyearbyen's clearest month at 67%. By civil night times clear sky, October scores 2.8 hours at Longyearbyen, 5th of 12. Alta, 945 km away, averages 84%, cloudier by 5 points.
Civil night at Longyearbyen starts October at 9 h 58 min and reaches 17 h 28 min by October 31 as the nights lengthen by 7.5 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 4.5 hours on the 15th.
October night by night
October opens toward a new moon on Oct 10, with full moon on Oct 26, in Arctic/Longyearbyen dates. Longyearbyen gets 197 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: Oct 7 (4 h), Oct 8 (4 h), Oct 9 (4 h).
- 1
69% lit
0.0 h
- 2
57% lit
0.0 h
- 3
46% lit
0.0 h
- 4
35% lit
0.0 h
- 5
25% lit
0.0 h
- 6
16% lit
0.0 h
- 7
8% lit
8.0 h
- 8
3% lit
11.3 h
- 9
1% lit
11.9 h
- 10
0% lit
12.2 h
- 11
2% lit
12.4 h
- 12
5% lit
12.7 h
- 13
11% lit
12.9 h
- 14
17% lit
13.2 h
- 15
25% lit
13.4 h
- 16
34% lit
13.6 h
- 17
43% lit
13.9 h
- 18
52% lit
14.1 h
- 19
62% lit
14.4 h
- 20
71% lit
14.6 h
- 21
80% lit
10.7 h
- 22
87% lit
5.5 h
- 23
94% lit
2.0 h
- 24
98% lit
0.0 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
99% lit
0.0 h
- 27
95% lit
0.0 h
- 28
89% lit
0.0 h
- 29
81% lit
0.0 h
- 30
71% lit
0.0 h
- 31
60% lit
0.0 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 Octobers
Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Longyearbyen, so storm days matter more: 116 of the 930 October days from 1996 to 2025 (12%) reached Kp 5, one of the three most active months for that level. Longyearbyen sits at 75.3 degrees geomagnetic, poleward of SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band. The quiet oval can lie south of the town, so aurora often shows low in the southern sky, and storms push the oval farther south.
October across Svalbard and Jan Mayen
Coming from September (5.1 hours at Longyearbyen), October adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into November (24.0 hours on the 15th).
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu Oct 1 | 9 h 58 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 69% |
| Fri Oct 2 | 10 h 13 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 57% |
| Sat Oct 3 | 10 h 28 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 46% |
| Sun Oct 4 | 10 h 43 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 35% |
| Mon Oct 5 | 10 h 58 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 25% |
| Tue Oct 6 | 11 h 13 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 16% |
| Wed Oct 7 | 11 h 28 min | 0 min | 7 h 57 min | 4 h | 8% |
| Thu Oct 8 | 11 h 42 min | 0 min | 11 h 15 min | 4 h | 3% |
| Fri Oct 9 | 11 h 57 min | 0 min | 11 h 57 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Sat Oct 10 | 12 h 11 min | 1 h 26 min | 12 h 11 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Sun Oct 11 | 12 h 26 min | 2 h 23 min | 12 h 26 min | 4 h | 2% |
| Mon Oct 12 | 12 h 40 min | 3 h 3 min | 12 h 40 min | 4 h | 5% |
| Tue Oct 13 | 12 h 55 min | 3 h 36 min | 12 h 55 min | 4 h | 11% |
| Wed Oct 14 | 13 h 9 min | 4 h 5 min | 13 h 9 min | 4 h | 17% |
| Thu Oct 15 | 13 h 24 min | 4 h 31 min | 13 h 24 min | 4 h | 25% |
| Fri Oct 16 | 13 h 38 min | 4 h 55 min | 13 h 38 min | 4 h | 34% |
| Sat Oct 17 | 13 h 53 min | 5 h 17 min | 13 h 53 min | 4 h | 43% |
| Sun Oct 18 | 14 h 7 min | 5 h 37 min | 14 h 7 min | 4 h | 52% |
| Mon Oct 19 | 14 h 22 min | 5 h 57 min | 14 h 22 min | 4 h | 62% |
| Tue Oct 20 | 14 h 37 min | 6 h 16 min | 14 h 37 min | 4 h | 71% |
| Wed Oct 21 | 14 h 51 min | 6 h 34 min | 10 h 39 min | 2 h 17 min | 80% |
| Thu Oct 22 | 15 h 6 min | 6 h 51 min | 5 h 30 min | 0 min | 87% |
| Fri Oct 23 | 15 h 21 min | 7 h 7 min | 2 h 2 min | 0 min | 94% |
| Sat Oct 24 | 15 h 36 min | 7 h 23 min | 0 min | 0 min | 98% |
| Sun Oct 25 | 15 h 52 min | 7 h 39 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Mon Oct 26 | 16 h 7 min | 7 h 54 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Tue Oct 27 | 16 h 23 min | 8 h 8 min | 0 min | 0 min | 95% |
| Wed Oct 28 | 16 h 38 min | 8 h 22 min | 0 min | 0 min | 89% |
| Thu Oct 29 | 16 h 55 min | 8 h 36 min | 0 min | 0 min | 81% |
| Fri Oct 30 | 17 h 11 min | 8 h 50 min | 0 min | 0 min | 71% |
| Sat Oct 31 | 17 h 28 min | 9 h 3 min | 0 min | 0 min | 60% |
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Longyearbyen in October?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Longyearbyen have civil darkness, and 12% of past October days reached Kp 5.
- How dark is Longyearbyen in October?
- Longyearbyen averages 13.7 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 9 h 58 min on the 1st to 17 h 28 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Longyearbyen in October?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Longyearbyen's 1 degree cell 79% mean cloud in October, against 76% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in October 2026 for aurora in Longyearbyen?
- By darkness and moon alone, Oct 7, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Longyearbyen. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is October or November better in Longyearbyen?
- By civil night times the clear share, October scores 2.8 hours at Longyearbyen and November 5.8. November 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.