Dazzling display of Southern Lights
Otago’s sky turned pink, yellow and green delighting Aurora hunters who have shared photos of the Southern Lights over the South Island.
Argentinian visitor to NZ Pablo Gabriel Saravia was surprised when he spotted Aurora Australis as he hung out with friends near Queenstown’s Lake Wakatipu shortly after midnight on Saturday.
“I was listening to music at the lake and suddenly the sky began to change. We didn’t know this was going to happen,” he told Stuff.
“It was something unthinkable
... I never thought I would live that experience.”
Ashburton resident Cindy Lovett said she took photos at various points around Ashburton’s Lake Hood on Saturday.
“I was actually heading off to bed at about midnight after checking outside to see if it was still cloudy – it was. Then I got a notification that it was starting to kick off. I headed down to the lake and the cloud was starting to clear nicely. I took those photos between 1am and 2am on Saturday.”
Commonly known as the Southern Lights, Aurora Australis is seen due to the way the sun interacts with the atmosphere.
Aurora is caused when particles ejected from the sun interact with earth's magnetic field, creating a geomagnetic storm, also known as “solar storm”.
Stardome astronomer Daley Panthagani explained: “Our star, the Sun, occasionally emits intense radiation storms, throwing out charged electromagnetic particles into space, which, if they are directed towards Earth, can cause Auroras.”
He said predicting Auroras can be tricky.
“When the energised particles reach the Earth’s magnetic field, they are directed towards the poles, where they interact with gasses in the upper atmosphere, creating different coloured lights in the sky, which we see as Aurora.
“Those observed closer to the northern pole are called Aurora Borealis, and in the southern hemisphere, we have the Aurora Australis.”
Southern Lights are sometimes seen as far north as Auckland, but experts believe the chances of seeing the Aurora Australis are lower in the north.
Aurora Australis can be seen all year round.