Meet Aurora Buddy: The App Helping Our Team Track the Northern Lights
At Aurora Nights, we spend a lot of time thinking about the sky.
Where will the aurora appear? When is the best time to go outside? How do we make the science of the Northern Lights easier to understand? And how can we help more people feel the same excitement we feel when the first colours begin to move overhead?
This winter, our founder Jonny Cooper launched an app he has been dreaming about since he founded his first company: Aurora Buddy.
Designed to simplify aurora forecasting, share real-time sightings and bring Northern Lights enthusiasts together, the Aurora Buddy app is an exciting new tool for anyone hoping to see the aurora. It takes the science behind the Northern Lights and turns it into something easy to follow, whether you are travelling on a luxury aurora holiday, watching from home, or waiting beneath the Arctic sky.
For the Aurora Nights team, it is already becoming part of the way we follow the season, share sightings and celebrate the magic of this incredible natural phenomenon.
What is the Aurora Buddy app?
Aurora Buddy is a Northern Lights app designed to make aurora forecasting simpler, clearer and more accessible.
Instead of expecting users to interpret complex solar data, geomagnetic readings and forecast charts, the app gives you an easy-to-understand Aurora Score. This helps you quickly see how promising conditions are and whether it is worth getting outside to search the skies.
For many people, aurora science can feel confusing. Terms like KP index, solar wind, geomagnetic activity and cloud cover are useful, but they can also feel overwhelming if you simply want to know one thing:
Do I have a good chance of seeing the Northern Lights tonight?
Aurora Buddy helps answer that question in a simpler way.
Why the Aurora Score matters
One of the most useful features of Aurora Buddy is the Aurora Score.
The Aurora Score has been created to give users a clearer, more straightforward way to understand viewing potential. Rather than asking you to decode multiple data points, the app brings the information together into a score that is easier to interpret.
That means less time trying to make sense of the science and more time planning when to step outside, look up and enjoy the moment.
For travellers on a Northern Lights holiday, this can make a real difference. The aurora does not run to a fixed schedule. It can appear late at night, briefly between cloud breaks, or during a period when you may otherwise have gone to bed. A simple score helps you stay informed without constantly checking complicated forecasts.
A 24-hour aurora outlook to help you plan ahead
Aurora Buddy also includes future predictions, giving users a 24-hour aurora outlook.
This is one of the features our team is most excited about because timing matters. On an aurora holiday, it is not always realistic to stay awake all night, every night. You want to know when your chances look strongest so you can plan to be outside, wrapped up and ready, at the optimal viewing time.
The 24-hour outlook helps you make better decisions, such as:
- whether to stay up later
- when to head outside
- when to prepare your camera
- whether to alert your travel companions
- when to keep an especially close eye on the sky
For Aurora Nights guests, this kind of simple guidance complements what we always recommend: stay somewhere with good aurora-viewing potential, allow enough nights for conditions to change, and be ready when the sky starts to perform.
Share your aurora sightings with other Aurora Buddies
One of the most exciting Aurora Buddy features is the ability to upload an image of the aurora when you see it, along with your location.
This creates a real-time community of aurora watchers. When someone captures the Northern Lights and shares their sighting, other Aurora Buddies nearby can be alerted that the aurora has been spotted in the area.
That is powerful because aurora viewing is often about timing and location. Sometimes the lights appear faintly at first. Sometimes they are visible in one place before another. Sometimes a nearby sighting is the nudge you need to step outside and check the sky for yourself.
Aurora Buddy turns aurora watching into something more connected. It is no longer just you and the forecast. It is a community of people looking up, sharing what they see and helping each other make the most of the moment.
Building an aurora image library
As the new aurora season approaches, we are especially looking forward to building an Aurora Buddy image library.
The idea is simple: throughout the season, we will be able to showcase aurora images captured by the community, along with the location and Aurora Score at the time each image was taken.
This will create a beautiful and useful record of the season. Not just where the aurora appeared, but what conditions looked like when those sightings happened.
For aurora travellers, photographers and Northern Lights enthusiasts, this has huge potential. It will allow people to see real examples of aurora activity from different destinations and understand how sightings relate to location and forecast conditions.
For us, it is also a wonderful way to celebrate the Aurora Nights and Aurora Buddy community. Every photograph tells a story: someone waiting, watching, stepping outside at the right moment and seeing the sky come alive.
The Aurora Nights team will be sharing our best aurora snaps
The Aurora Nights team is already looking forward to using Aurora Buddy throughout the coming season.
We will be watching the Aurora Score, following the 24-hour outlook, checking sightings and sharing our own favourite aurora images along the way. From remote lodges and snowy landscapes to glass-roofed cabins and wild Nordic skies, we cannot wait to see what the season brings.
We are also excited to share the team’s best aurora snaps as the image library grows.
Whether it is a faint green arc above the horizon or a full display dancing overhead, every sighting is part of the story. Aurora Buddy gives us a new way to collect, share and celebrate those moments.
Why Aurora Buddy is such an exciting addition
At Aurora Nights, we have always believed that the best Northern Lights holidays combine expert planning with a sense of wonder.
The aurora is scientific, but it is also emotional. It is solar activity, geomagnetic movement and atmospheric reaction, but it is also anticipation, silence, cold air, excitement and the unforgettable feeling of looking up at exactly the right time.
Aurora Buddy brings those two worlds together.
It simplifies the science behind the aurora while keeping the magic intact. It helps users understand when conditions may be promising, but it also encourages people to share the joy of seeing the Northern Lights for themselves.
For us, that is what makes the app so special.
It is not just an aurora forecast app. It is a way to make aurora watching more accessible, more connected and more exciting for everyone.
Counting down to the return of the aurora
We are now counting down to mid-August, when the aurora season begins to return and the skies start getting dark enough once again in northern regions.
After months of lighter nights, this is always an exciting moment. The first signs of the season bring a renewed sense of anticipation. The forecasts become more interesting. The team starts watching the skies more closely. Travellers begin dreaming of winter lodges, private aurora hunts, glass cabins and nights spent beneath the stars.
This year, with Aurora Buddy in our pockets, that excitement feels even greater.
We cannot wait to see what the season brings, where the aurora appears first, and which images our community captures along the way.
Watch this space for the team’s best aurora snaps, community sightings and highlights from the Aurora Buddy image library.
The countdown to aurora season is on.
Planning a Northern Lights holiday?
Aurora Nights designs bespoke luxury Northern Lights holidays across Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Svalbard.
With over 15 years of Nordic luxury experience, our team combines expert aurora knowledge with hand-picked accommodation, trusted local guides and tailor-made itineraries designed around you.
Whether you are dreaming of a glass-roofed cabin, a private aurora guide, an Arctic spa retreat or a once-in-a-lifetime Nordic journey, we can help you plan a holiday that gives you the best possible chance of experiencing the Northern Lights in comfort and style.
Start planning your bespoke aurora holiday with Aurora Nights.
What is Aurora Buddy?
Aurora Buddy is a Northern Lights app created to simplify aurora forecasting. It gives users an easy-to-understand Aurora Score, future aurora predictions and the ability to share aurora sightings with other users nearby.
What is the Aurora Score?
The Aurora Score is a simple way to understand aurora viewing potential. Instead of asking users to interpret complex solar and geomagnetic data, Aurora Buddy turns the science into a clearer score that helps people decide when to look for the Northern Lights.
Can Aurora Buddy predict the Northern Lights?
Aurora Buddy provides a 24-hour aurora outlook to help users plan when to be outside and ready. The aurora is a natural phenomenon and can never be guaranteed, but forecast tools can help identify more promising viewing windows.
Can users share aurora sightings in the app?
Yes. Aurora Buddy allows users to upload an image of the aurora with their location. This can alert other Aurora Buddies nearby that the Northern Lights have been sighted in the area.
What is the Aurora Buddy image library?
The Aurora Buddy image library will showcase aurora photographs captured throughout the season, along with the location and Aurora Score at the time the images were taken. It is designed to celebrate community sightings and create a visual record of the aurora season.
When does aurora season return?
In many northern regions, aurora viewing becomes possible again from around mid-August as darker skies return. The main aurora travel season then continues through autumn, winter and into early spring.
