Northern lights in Paris tonight

Seeing the northern lights from Paris

Seeing the northern lights from Paris is rare, but not impossible. At 48.9° N and under a Bortle 9 sky, the capital demands exceptional conditions: a high Kp index (typically ≥ 7), clear northern horizon, and ideally a trip to the outer suburbs. In recent years, Paris has seen auroras at least twice: September 2017 (Kp 7.7) and most memorably May 2024, during a historic geomagnetic storm that made the aurora visible to the naked eye from the ring road.

Observation conditions in Paris

Paris light pollution (Bortle 9 of 9, limiting magnitude ~3.5) strips away most aurora colours. A typical green aurora (Kp 5-6) is effectively invisible from central Paris. From Kp 7 onwards, the aurora appears as a reddish or purplish glow on the northern horizon. A short trip to the forest of Rambouillet (Bortle 4, 60 km SW) or Fontainebleau (Bortle 4, 70 km S) gains 2-3 magnitudes and the aurora becomes observable from Kp 6.

Recent auroras from Paris

Recent auroras reported from Paris: 10-11 May 2024 (Kp 9, red and purple colours visible even from the ring road), 5 November 2023 (Kp 7, hard to see from the centre), 27 February 2023 (Kp 6, rural outskirts only), 8 September 2017 (Kp 7.7).