Aurora australis in The Catlins tonight
Southland/Otago border, South Island, New Zealand · 57° magnetic latitude · Kp 3 threshold
Kp 1 is well below the Kp 3 threshold needed for aurora to be visible from The Catlins.
7-day outlook for The Catlins
Based on CME arrival predictions from NASA DONKI. Arrival times ±6 hours.
auroratonight.space
What Kp is needed here?
The Catlins sits at a magnetic latitude of approximately 57°S. The Kp index - a global measure of geomagnetic activity on a scale from 0 (quiet) to 9 (extreme storm), updated every 3 hours - needs to reach Kp 3 before the auroral oval expands far enough north to be visible from here.
At Kp 3, visibility is possible from The Catlins but skies need to be clear and dark. Cloud cover and light pollution remain the main obstacles even when Kp is high enough.
Best dark sky sites near The Catlins
Light pollution is the biggest obstacle after cloud cover. These sites give you the best dark southern horizon within reach.
Nugget Point (Tokatā)
Get directions ↗A narrow headland with a lighthouse built in 1869-70, overlooking a line of offshore rock stacks known as the Nuggets. It's one of the Catlins' most-photographed scenic sites, and the silhouetted lighthouse is specifically named by aurora photographers as a favoured composition for aurora australis shots over the Southern Ocean.
Slope Point and Toetoes Bay
Get directions ↗Slope Point is the southernmost point of the South Island mainland, right beside Toetoes Bay - an exposed, unobstructed south-facing shoreline reached via Waikawa Road from Fortrose. No towns sit within 20 km to the south or east, giving a genuinely dark, open ocean horizon.
Curio Bay and Waipapa Point
Get directions ↗Curio Bay is known for its 180-million-year-old petrified forest and a yellow-eyed penguin colony - a wildlife and geology destination first, astrotourism second. Waipapa Point, a short distance away, has an 1884 lighthouse and an open south-facing coast.
Best time to see the aurora australis in The Catlins
The Catlins's aurora australis season runs from April through August, centred on the southern winter when nights are longest and darkest. The equinox months of March and September bring a boost in geomagnetic activity. Summer months bring too much twilight for aurora to show at this latitude.
Activity peaks around the March and September equinoxes, when Earth's magnetic field geometry is most favourable for coupling with the solar wind. These windows produce the strongest aurora australis events of the year for observers at this latitude.
October through February brings persistent twilight that washes out the aurora australis. Strong events during these months remain invisible because the sky never gets dark enough.
Other New Zealand aurora forecasts
Up to 8 locations
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