Spaceweather clarified please

[Benno18 (Ben)]

Just need a bit of clarification for spaceweather.com.
Going to NZ next week, and the picture of the auroral oval and the 'Kp' index mean what??
Obviously the higher the number the higher the activity, but do you have to be under the 'cloud' to see it????
If not how far away can you be??
Also there is a red arrow on the picture. What does this mean??

Thanks in advance!!!
Benno

[malclocke (Malc)]

Hi Benno,

Yes, you need to be under the orange or red area to see aurora, and in my experience at a dark site.

Folks were reporting aurora as far north as Hastings on the North Island last night, but that's pretty rare. Down here in Christchurch we probably would have had a good show if it wasn't for the wall to wall cloud and rain.

The red arrow points to the noon meridian, i.e. wherever it's midday on the map.

This site has a little more data than spaceweather:

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/

and the following page will give you some guidance on the required KP for your location.

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/Aurora/index.html

AFAIK you'll generally need a KP of 7 to 9 in NZ to see aurora, depending on how far south you are.

Where are you heading?

Malc

[Benno18 (Ben)]

Cheers Malc!!!!

We are just traveling the South Island. Christchurch, Wanaka, Arrowtown, Hokitika. For pretty much the next two weeks.
Thanks heaps for the info. Makes a lot more sense now!!
Well here's hoping!!! Fingers crossed!!!

Cheers
Benno

[malclocke (Malc)]

Well, your timing is pretty good, things have been pretty busy of late on the solar front and there appears to be another active region poking it's head around the corner.

Enjoy your trip,

Malc