It seems nothing fascinates us like the the aurora. Whether you want to bounce radio signals off it, photograph it or just see it, catching an aurora in progress isn't as easy as it might be. Aurora can come and go quickly and with little warning, making it easy to miss a good event. That's what Aurora Sentry is all about. The collection of real time data presented here will be helpful in determining whether there is aurora now and should give some insight to what might happen an hour from now. There are also resources for looking further ahead which may give some "early warning" that something could be coming in 1 to 3 days. Bear in mind that space weather forecasting is a complex business and nothing on this site should be construed to be an official forecast. Most of this is raw data and the viewer is left to draw his or her own conclusions. This site has been put together with the needs of the radio aurora enthusiast in mind, but much of the data is relevant to visual aurora as well.
There aren't many frills here. Emphasis has been placed on functionality rather than a fancy look. This site is provided as an aid to the ham radio community and others wishing to monitor the real time status of the aurora. I am very grateful to the many government agencies, universities, and other professional and scientific research organizations who provide the data and have given permission to use it in the project.
Documentation and help files for this site are not yet complete. Check the FAQ and the Guide to the Data for information. If your question is not covered there, I will try to answer it by email.
Thanks to LeRoy Zimmerman for the Aurora Sentry logo.