Here’s how you can see the Northern or Southern Lights in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Animal Crossing makes this a little difficult to talk about thanks to the presence of Aurora, a penguin villager that has been in every game prior to New Horizons and will likely remain in the franchise forever. To cut down on confusion, whenever the term “aurora” is used, we’re referring to the atmospheric effect where charged particles in the ionosphere emit colorful and spectacular lights.
You might have seen an aurora on your island already, but that would make you one of the lucky ones. Auroras are extremely rare occurrences that will only happen during the winter months, depending on which hemisphere you happen to live in. For the Northern Hemisphere, the aurora won’t appear except during the months of December, January, and February. For the Southern Hemisphere, auroras will appear from now until the end of August.
Auroras also only happen at night after 7 PM. This is the same time that Celeste spawns and when meteor showers and shooting stars occur on the island. Auroras can occur anytime between 7 PM and when the sun rises, so keep an eye out in the sky during the nighttime hours.
Because most people are asleep during the night, spotting an aurora can be extremely difficult. Compounding this is the fact that auroras are short-lived events that are only displayed for an hour or two at most. After that, they fade away, and then you’ll have to try again the following night.
A purely cosmetic weather effect, auroras don’t do anything for the gameplay in New Horizons. They’re just pretty to look at. If you spot one, take out your camera and take a few snapshots for your scrapbook. Tons of people will go their entire lives without ever seeing the Aurora Borealis or the Aurora Australis (as it’s called in the South), so if you spot one in New Horizons, consider yourself lucky.