With social media exploding with millions of aurora photos, I keep seeing the same question pop up: Can I see the northern lights in Denmark today?
So I decided to put everything in one place and answer it properly 🙂
Can you see the Northern Lights in Denmark?
Yes… but it’s a bit more complicated than a simple yes or no.
Seeing strong, colourful aurora with the naked eye in Denmark is quite rare, especially in cities. In the last four years that I’ve been photographing auroras, it happened only twice: on 10.05.2024 and 19.01.2026. Those were extreme events. The lights were so strong that my brother saw them in southern Poland, and photos even came in from the Alps.
Most of the time, aurora in Denmark looks very subtle to the naked eye. You’re usually looking for a pale, silvery cloud in the sky. The colours only really show up once you use a phone or camera.
In that sense, aurora chasing in Denmark is mostly for enthusiasts. The best results come from long exposures, a tripod, and being far away from city lights.
Will I see an aurora dancing across the sky?
Almost never in Denmark. The aurora is usually too weak for your eyes to register movement or strong colour.
If you want proper dancing lights and intense colours, you need to go further north. I’ve seen that kind of aurora in Iceland and on Senja in Norway.
Can I see the Northern Lights in the city?
Again: yes, but mostly no.
If you are extremely lucky and the aurora is exceptionally strong, it’s possible. But around 90% of the time, you’ll need to leave the city and find a place with minimal light pollution. The darker, the better. As a bonus, you’ll often get an incredible starry sky that’s worth the trip on its own.
The moon also matters. A full moon can brighten the sky so much that weaker auroras become impossible to see.
Will there be northern lights tonight?
Unfortunately, you can’t book an aurora.
It’s a natural phenomenon, and nature is unpredictable. There are signs that increase the chances, like strong solar flares heading toward Earth, but you usually won’t know for sure until a few hours before. The most precise data comes only 30 minutes to one hour when the solar wind hits the DSCOVR and ACE satellites.
And even then, nothing is guaranteed. You won’t know the exact timing or how long the aurora will last. I’ve spent many nights sitting on a freezing beach for hours. Sometimes I got lucky, sometimes I went home with frozen fingers and nothing to show for it.
That’s just part of the game.
What conditions are needed to see northern lights in Denmark?
To have any chance of seeing northern lights in Denmark, you need all of the following:
- Clear skies – space weather means nothing if it’s cloudy. Always check local weather forecasts.
- Bz (Interplanetary Magnetic Field) must be negative – a southward Bz allows solar wind to interact with Earth’s magnetic field and create auroras.
- Solar wind speed and density
- Speed: above 500–600 km/s is good
- Density: higher density means more particles hitting Earth
All of these need to line up for an aurora to even be possible.
You can track this using: https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/
Can you see northern lights in summer?
Technically yes, realistically almost never.
Danish summer nights are extremely bright, with over 17 hours of daylight. Around midsummer, it never gets truly dark. That leaves only a very short window with some darkness.
I managed to photograph aurora once in August, but that was an exception rather than the rule. In general, your chances of seeing northern lights in Denmark during summer are close to zero.
How do I know when to go aurora hunting?
I follow several aurora-focused groups on Facebook, in different languages. Facebook’s automatic translation actually works quite well for this (if you do not know the language).
I especially recommend a few Polish profiles. They go deep into space weather and explain not just aurora alerts, but also what’s happening in the sky overall — eclipses, meteor showers, solar activity. I’ve learned a lot from them.
Useful groups and pages:
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/polarlysverdenrundt (Danish)
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/923330495015216 (Danish/ English)
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/494579905544756 (Danish)
- https://www.facebook.com/PatrzwGore (Polish)
- https://www.facebook.com/ZGlowaWGwiazdach (Polish)
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/154848124616342 (English)
How to photograph northern lights
I’ve written a detailed guide on how to photograph aurora with both a phone and a camera here.
