Night sky green,
SOUTHERN Lights chasers flocked to the best vantage points on Wednesday night for the impressive sky show, which some described as the “best I had seen”.
Linda Coy meandered to the beach on the dark, still night with husband Daniel Coy to set up her tripod and snap Aurora Australis gold.
She said Roaring Beach near Dover was the perfect outlook for what was “definitely the strongest Aurora I’ve ever seen”.
“We’ve seen it before but only with the camera, this time you could see beams of light moving around shimmering in the sky,” Ms Coy said. “It was a purple, red glow with clear light as well.”
She recommended setting your phone or camera to a long shutter speed and keeping it perfectly still on a tripod for the best results.
“A friend of mine got a great one on her phone at Howrah,” she said. “If you’re anywhere you can see straight south and get a good view of the horizon you’d be able to see it.
“It also pays to wear some gloves and a beanie – it was quite still last night but I imagine if it was windier it would be really cold.”
Toby Schrapel was at Franklin when he shot photos bringing out the reds and greens in full force.
He described the scene as “like watching a Hollywood movie with the best of the best special effects”.
“It was such a surreal feeling watching the southern lights with beams spreading from east to west and even colour sitting right above our heads – truly magical,” he said.
“I’ve seen quite a lot of colour over the years but nothing quite like this.”
Another southerner, Ellie Shaw, was ready for the bold display and stood out in her paddock at Geeveston from 10.15pm to catch a glimpse.
“When the clouds came in around 11pm that’s when you could see the beams of light,” she said.
Ms Shaw has seen both northern and southern lights, having been a sailor and hailing from the Isle of Man.
“It looks great on camera. To the naked eye the lights look like your neighbours are
having a party.” Another lucky photographer Sophie Fazackerley shared her images in the Aurora Australis Tasmania Facebook group, which were taken at Franklin in an eerie river mist at 12.16am.
“I was at home in Howden when it happened, but I decided to drive 30km to Franklin to get a clearer look,” she said. “It was 13 degrees when I left home and when I got there it was five degrees.”
She described the lights in her Facebook post as “almost surreal” and stretching across a wider than usual distance on the horizon.
But contrary to other happy snappers, Ms Fazackerley had seen a stronger Aurora in previous years and said the 11year cycle known as the solar minimum would strengthen the depth and colour of the southern lights in the next two to five years.
More social media pictures, videos and Aurora-spotting updates are available in the public Aurora Australis Tasmania Facebook group.
TO TRACK WHERE AND WHEN THE NEXT AURORA AUSTRALIS CAN BE FOUND VISIT AURORASERVICE.NET/AURORA-FORECAST