171Å (gold) — The quiet corona. Magnetic field lines traced by million-degree plasma. Coronal loops arch between sunspot pairs. Dark patches are coronal holes where fast solar wind escapes.
193Å (blue-green) — Slightly hotter corona plus flare plasma. Best for spotting coronal holes (dark regions) that produce high-speed solar wind streams.
304Å (red) — The chromosphere just above the surface. Best for seeing prominences — great glowing arches of cooler plasma that can erupt as CMEs.
HMI Magnetogram — Not light but magnetic field strength. White = north polarity, black = south. Sunspots appear as complex black/white pairs. Active regions with tangled fields are flare-prone.
Source: NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory · sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov · Updated every ~15 minutes · Click images to open full resolution
UK Aurora Probability
Calculated from live Kp index · Updates every 5 minutes
Current Kp
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Visibility by UK location
Location
Mag. Lat.
Min Kp needed
Tonight's chance
Status
Best viewing tip
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Best conditions checklist
Clear skies — no cloud cover
Dark site — away from town lights
Face north — look toward the horizon
Let eyes dark-adapt — 20 minutes
Kp sustained, not just spiking
New moon period — less light pollution
Photography tips
Camera sees green better than the eye
ISO 800–3200, f/2.8 or wider
10–25 second exposure to start
Manual focus set to infinity
Wide angle lens — 14–24mm ideal
Use a tripod — any shake ruins it
Alert services
AuroraWatch UK — Lancaster University. Free email/SMS alerts when aurora likely over UK. aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk
