Aurora forecast and northern lights camera for iPhone
Night Cam tells you whether you can see the northern lights tonight, then helps you photograph them. The free Tonight forecast shows the aurora chance for your exact area (from NOAA's Kp forecast and OVATION aurora model), cloud cover for the next 12 hours and the moon phase. The camera has presets for the night: Moon, Stars (a 16-second stacked exposure), Aurora, star Trails and City for photos, and Night video, Aurora Live and Time-lapse for video. The Tonight tab is a free forecast for your location: aurora chance from NOAA's Kp forecast and OVATION model, cloud cover and the moon phase. Optional aurora alerts send at most one notification a night when the lights are likely. No account, no subscription.
Google Play: Android version in progress- Price
- Free download, 3 free captures. Pro $4.99 once, or Night Pass $0.99 for 48 hours
- Aurora forecast
- Aurora chance for your area, Kp index, 3-day Kp outlook, cloud cover, moon phase. Always free
- Presets
- Moon, Stars, Aurora, Trails, City, Night video, Aurora Live, Time-lapse
- Requires
- iPhone, iOS 18 or later
Screenshots
How to photograph the northern lights and stars with an iPhone
Check the aurora forecast first, then keep the phone completely still for the whole exposure. That is most of the trick.
- Check the aurora forecastOpen Tonight to see the aurora chance for your area, the Kp index, cloud cover and moon phase. A high chance with low cloud is the night to go out; clear skies and a thin moon are best for stars.
- Steady the phoneUse a tripod, or prop the phone against something solid. Hand-held star shots will blur.
- Pick a presetChoose Aurora when the northern lights are out (face north, or south in the southern hemisphere), Stars for a sharp sky or the Milky Way, Trails for star trails, or Moon for the Moon.
- Tap and let goA 3-second countdown starts so your tap does not shake the phone. Stay still until the capture finishes; the photo is saved to Photos.
What it does
🌙Moon, Stars, City
Photo presets tuned for each. Stars stacks 16 seconds of frames into one cleaner image.
🌌Aurora and Aurora Live
An aurora photo preset, and real-time aurora video when the lights are moving.
✨Trails and Time-lapse
Star trails from a long session, or a time-lapse of the sky moving.
🔭Tonight forecast
Aurora chance for your location (NOAA SWPC Kp forecast and OVATION model), cloud cover from Open-Meteo, and moon phase. Free.
🔔Aurora alerts
Optional. At most one notification a night, only when the chance is worth it.
🔴Red night mode
Turns the screen red so your eyes stay adjusted to the dark.
Questions this app answers
Will I see the northern lights tonight?
It depends on three things: how strong the geomagnetic activity is (the Kp index), how far north you are, and whether it is cloudy. Night Cam's Tonight forecast combines NOAA's OVATION aurora model and Kp forecast with cloud cover for your exact location into one aurora chance, so you can decide before going out.
Is there an aurora forecast for my area?
Yes. Allow location and Tonight shows the aurora chance where you are, not a generic map: it looks at the OVATION grid around your position and toward the pole, then adds the next 12 hours of cloud cover. A 3-day Kp outlook shows which upcoming night looks strongest.
What Kp index do I need to see the aurora?
Roughly: Kp 3 to 4 for northern Scandinavia, Iceland, Alaska and northern Canada; Kp 5 (a G1 storm) for places like Scotland, southern Norway and Sweden or the northern US border states; Kp 7 and above to reach much of central Europe and the middle of the US. Night Cam turns the Kp forecast into a chance for your latitude so you do not have to do the maths.
What are the best iPhone camera settings for the northern lights?
Use a tripod, turn off the flash, stay on the main 1x lens (it lets in the most light), lock focus far away, and use a long exposure of 1 to 10 seconds. Night Cam's Aurora preset does this for you: focus locked at infinity, white balance tuned for green aurora, and a short stack of 1-second frames so the moving curtains stay sharp.
How do I photograph stars and the Milky Way with my iPhone?
Get away from street lights, keep the phone completely still on a tripod or a solid surface, and use a long exposure. Night Cam's Stars preset takes a 16-second stacked exposure after a 3-second countdown, which cuts the grain of a single long shot.
Can an iPhone film the aurora?
Yes, when it is bright enough. The Aurora Live preset records real-time video with quarter-second frames; for faint displays a still photo with the Aurora preset will show more than your eyes can see.
Night Cam vs the built-in Camera and separate forecast apps
The built-in Camera has Night mode, but no presets for stars or trails and no forecast. Aurora forecast apps usually do not take photos, and many are subscriptions.
| Night Cam | iPhone Camera | Forecast-only apps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Star, Moon, Trails and Aurora presets | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Aurora chance for your location | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Cloud cover and moon phase | ✓ | ✗ | Some |
| Price | Free forecast, $4.99 once for Pro | Free | Often a subscription |
Frequently asked questions
Is the aurora forecast free?
Yes. The Tonight aurora forecast, cloud cover and moon phase are always free. The download is free too, with 3 free captures. After that, Pro is a one-time $4.99 for everything, or Night Pass is $0.99 for everything for 48 hours. Night Pass does not renew. There are no subscriptions.
Where does the aurora forecast come from?
From NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center: the planetary Kp index forecast and the OVATION aurora model, which is updated every few minutes. Cloud cover comes from Open-Meteo. Moon phase is calculated on the phone.
What is the Kp index?
Kp is a 0 to 9 scale of global geomagnetic activity, measured every three hours. Higher Kp pushes the aurora further from the poles. Kp 5 or more counts as a geomagnetic storm (G1 to G5).
Does it send northern lights alerts?
Yes, if you turn them on (part of Pro or Night Pass). Night Cam checks in the background and sends at most one notification a night, only when the aurora chance where you are is worth going out for.
Does it need my location?
No. Location makes the aurora forecast match where you are, but you can decline it and still use the camera. Coordinates sent for the cloud forecast are rounded to about 11 km.
Which languages does it support?
English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Brazilian Portuguese.
Is there an Android version?
Not yet. It is iPhone-only for now.
Step-by-step guides
More on-device apps for chat exports and voice notes
Aurora and cloud forecasts are estimates and can change quickly. Night Cam uses public data from NOAA SWPC and Open-Meteo and is not affiliated with either.