Otago, New Zealand
Southern lights in Mosgiel
Answer
Tonight
Darkness window open
Civil darkness has begun.
Observed 11:49 UTC, forecast 13:20 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in Pacific/Auckland
Storm level needed
Mosgiel sits at 45.88S 170.35E in Otago, New Zealand. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Mosgiel at 49.4 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 3.5 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Mosgiel sits at 49.4 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.
"aurora has been seen as low as Alabama and northern California (typically 45° geomagnetic lat.)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Dunedin (12 km), Oamaru (99 km), Gore (111 km). Dunedin sits 0.0 degrees lower on the dipole and needs the same Kp.
Approximate: SWPC calls its Kp to latitude rule an average, and a centered dipole can differ by a degree from fuller field models. How the storm level is matched
The year in darkness
Every night of 2026 at Mosgiel has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 6.9 hours. Every evening of the year at Mosgiel clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Mosgiel's longest night of the year, Jun 20, has 14 h 6 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Mosgiel, when the sun is lowest, falls at 01:33 on local clocks on December 15 and 00:39 on June 15. That is 1 h 33 min after midnight in December and 39 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Mosgiel the darkest hour sits late in SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7.4 h | 3.7 h | 74% | 1.9 h | |
| Feb | 8.9 h | 6.1 h | 71% | 2.6 h | |
| Mar | 10.5 h | 8.1 h | 70% | 3.2 h | |
| Apr | 12.1 h | 9.8 h | 70% | 3.6 h | |
| May | 13.4 h | 11.0 h | 70% | 4.0 h | |
| Jun | 14.1 h | 11.6 h | 68% | 4.5 h | |
| Jul | 13.8 h | 11.4 h | 67% | 4.6 hbest | |
| Aug | 12.7 h | 10.3 h | 71% | 3.7 h | |
| Sep | 11.2 h | 8.8 h | 70% | 3.4 h | |
| Oct | 9.5 h | 6.9 h | 72% | 2.7 h | |
| Nov | 7.8 h | 4.6 h | 75% | 2.0 h | |
| Dec | 6.9 h | 2.7 h | 76% | 1.7 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, June is the darkest month at Mosgiel with 14.1 hours of civil night and December the lightest at 6.9. Across the year Mosgiel gets 3,900 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Mosgiel, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 2.7 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Mosgiel at 71% across the year, from 67% in July to 76% in December. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Mosgiel averages 71%, against a median of 67% for Glow towns in New Zealand.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives July the best score, 4.6 hours, ahead of June at 4.5. Mosgiel's equinox months score 3.2 in March and 3.4 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
From 1996 to 2025, the GFZ Potsdam record shows a 3-hour Kp of 9 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Mosgiel, on 0% of days. At Mosgiel's level the share runs from 0% in January to 0% in October, while storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%.
Share of UTC days in each calendar month whose highest 3-hour Kp reached Kp 9. Kp history by year
Moon, next 30 nights
Over the 30 nights from Oct 2, the new moon falls on Oct 11 and the full moon on Oct 26, in Pacific/Auckland dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Mosgiel have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 2 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Mosgiel has 10 h 14 min of civil night, 6 h 34 min of it with the moon down.
- 2
63% lit
6.6 h
- 3
51% lit
7.5 h
- 4
40% lit
8.1 h
- 5
29% lit
8.6 h
- 6
20% lit
9.0 h
- 7
12% lit
9.3 h
- 8
5% lit
9.6 h
- 9
2% lit
9.8 h
- 10
0% lit
9.8 h
- 11
1% lit
9.5 h
- 12
4% lit
8.3 h
- 13
8% lit
7.1 h
- 14
14% lit
6.0 h
- 15
22% lit
4.9 h
- 16
30% lit
4.0 h
- 17
39% lit
3.3 h
- 18
48% lit
2.6 h
- 19
58% lit
2.2 h
- 20
67% lit
1.8 h
- 21
76% lit
1.4 h
- 22
84% lit
1.1 h
- 23
91% lit
0.8 h
- 24
96% lit
0.4 h
- 25
99% lit
0.0 h
- 26
100% lit
0.0 h
- 27
98% lit
1.1 h
- 28
93% lit
2.5 h
- 29
85% lit
3.7 h
- 30
76% lit
4.7 h
- 31
66% lit
5.4 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.
Within New Zealand
Among the 5 Glow towns in Otago, Mosgiel ranks 1st by dipole latitude against a regional median of 48.8 degrees, the highest of them. Among the 12 Glow towns in New Zealand, Mosgiel ranks 3rd by dipole latitude against a national median of 48.5 degrees; Invercargill sits highest at 50.2. On December 15 Mosgiel gets 6.9 hours of civil night, 9th longest of 12 in New Zealand, where the median is 7.0.
Questions
- Can you see the southern lights in Mosgiel?
- Mosgiel sits at 49.4 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. Clear, dark sky over Mosgiel still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Mosgiel?
- Every night at Mosgiel has civil darkness. Tonight has 10 h 14 min, and December 15 has 6.9 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Mosgiel?
- July, by civil night at Mosgiel times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Mosgiel in the dark months?
- About 71% mean cloud amount over Mosgiel in the months with at least 4 hours of civil night, from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology.
- How often is activity high enough for Mosgiel?
- A 3-hour Kp of 9 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 0% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
- Why does this page point to Dunedin?
- Mosgiel sits within 15 km of Dunedin with the same rounded dipole latitude, Kp and dark season, so Glow treats Dunedin as the main page for both.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Mosgiel by month
Region and comparisons