Aurora Borealis in Köping
Sweden · 59.51°, 15.99° · geomagnetic 58.5° · needs Kp 5
Tonight in Köping
36%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Köping needs Kp 5, and tonight the forecast peaks at Kp 5.7. That is on the threshold rather than over it, so cloud and moonlight will decide the night.
Updated 2026-08-02 20:20 UTC
The next 30 nights in Köping
Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 36%. One of the seven reaches the Kp 5 that Köping needs: Sunday 2 Aug, at Kp 5.7. The 23 nights past the seven-day window move with the 27-day solar rotation and are updated daily in the app.
Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app
Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook
How often the aurora borealis reaches Köping
21.2 nights a year, averaged across 10.0 years of records
| Storm level | Nights / year |
|---|---|
| Kp 4 | 83.4 |
| Kp 5 | 28.7 |
| Kp 6 | 9.3 |
| Kp 7 | 3.2 |
| Kp 8 | 1.2 |
NOAA planetary Kp, 2016-04-02 to 2026-03-30
Worth watching through the dark half of the year
Kp 5 is a moderate storm — not an everyday event, but common enough that a patient observer in Köping sees the aurora borealis most winters.
Hours of true darkness, month by month
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.0 | 10.2 | 7.7 | 3.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.4 | 9.5 | 11.6 | 12.5 |
Solar declination and hour angle at −18°
Nothing to see from May to August
Through those months the sun never falls more than 18° below the Köping horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
Köping is small enough that its own lights are a minor problem — the centre reads Bortle 6. Walking to the edge of town is often escape enough.
- 14 km west — around Arboga kommun → Bortle 5
- 28 km west — around Lindesbergs kommun → Bortle 4
Falchi 2016 World Atlas (DOI: 10.5880/GFZ.1.4.2016.001)
The months that actually deliver
Counting only nights that were both stormy enough and dark enough, September, March and October came out ahead in Köping. That is storm season and darkness overlapping — the equinoxes tend to be geomagnetically active, and the nights are already long by then.
Darkest nights of the coming year
A bright moon washes out a weak display as effectively as street lighting. These new moons fall inside the Köping viewing season.
- 11 Sep 2026
- 11 Oct 2026
- 09 Nov 2026
- 09 Dec 2026
- 07 Jan 2027
- 06 Feb 2027
- 08 Mar 2027
Where it is close to a certainty
If you would rather plan a trip than wait for a storm, the nearest place with genuinely frequent aurora is Bodø, 868 km north in Norway.
| Köping | Bodø | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 5 | 3 |
| Nights per year | 21.2 | 171.4 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 58.5° | 66.0° |
Confirmed reports from this area
92 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Köping between 2015-01-01 and 2016-12-31. Rare is not the same as impossible.
Aurorasaurus verified positive reports
Where the horizon opens up near Köping
The display sits low on the northern horizon, so what beats a better forecast is open ground facing that way. Height gets you above the town glow; water gives you an unbroken skyline. These are within a short drive of Köping.
- Åvaberg — hill10.1 km north-north-east
- Hättstaåsen — hill10.5 km north-north-west
- Sundängesjön — lake12.9 km west
- Rotsjön — lake13.3 km north-west
- Lindön — island15.2 km west-north-west
- Garsten — island15.2 km west-north-west
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
The last nights it was visible here
Nights in the last decade when the storm was strong enough for Köping and the sky was dark enough to show it.
| Date | Peak |
|---|---|
| 2026-03-24 | Kp 5.0 |
| 2026-03-23 | Kp 5.0 |
| 2026-03-22 | Kp 6.67 |
| 2026-03-21 | Kp 6.0 |
| 2026-03-20 | Kp 7.0 |
NOAA planetary Kp
Know when it is worth going outside
Revon watches the Köping forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Köping
Can you see the aurora borealis from Köping?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Köping had about 21.2 nights a year when the storm was strong enough and the sky dark enough at the same time.
What Kp index do you need to see the aurora borealis in Köping?
Kp 5. Köping sits at geomagnetic latitude 58.5°, and the auroral oval only reaches that far from the pole once activity hits Kp 5. Storms that size occur about 28.7 nights a year.
When is the best time of year to see the aurora borealis in Köping?
September, March and October. Those months scored highest once both conditions are counted together: geomagnetic activity and enough hours of real darkness. From May to August the sky over Köping never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near Köping?
The centre of Köping reads Bortle 6. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 28 km west around Lindesbergs kommun. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Köping with reliable aurora borealis?
Bodø, Norway — 868 km north. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 21.2 in Köping.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Köping.
- 🇸🇪 Eskilstuna - Sweden33 km
- 🇸🇪 Västerås - Sweden34 km
- 🇸🇪 Örebro - Sweden52 km
- 🇸🇪 Katrineholm - Sweden59 km
- 🇸🇪 Enköping - Sweden63 km
- 🇸🇪 Kumla - Sweden65 km
- 🇸🇪 Ludvika - Sweden84 km
- 🇸🇪 Karlskoga - Sweden86 km