Spectacular Aurora Illuminates New Zealand Skies May Return Tonight
If you missed the aurora light show that lit up the southern lights on Sunday night, you may have another chance because night falls on King's Birthday Monday.
Aurora Australis, often known as the southern lights, put on a spectacular display in the night sky over much of New Zealand on Sunday night, causing photographers to set up their tripods throughout the mostly cloudless but cold night to capture the lights.
Dr Ian Griffin, astronomer and director of the Otago Museum, told Radio New Zealand that the stunning show was exceptional since it was viewed further north than usual.
"Last night's bright skies across the country provided everyone with an excellent opportunity to witness what I believe is one of the finest shows on Earth.
"Normally, displays like this you can see most easily from southern New Zealand, but my understanding is a lot of people in the North Island last night got a good show, too," Griffin informed the media.
Aurora occurs when material ejected from the sun enters our atmosphere and reacts with particles at the geomagnetic poles. This causes the strange glowing lights to be visible in the sky.
Aurora aficionados are hoping that the show will still be visible after dark on King's Birthday Monday.
Griffin stated that this newest burst of aurora occurred following a powerful explosion on the sun: "It was quite a tremendous explosion that threw a whole load of debris towards the planet.
"Fingers crossed it might persist until darkness tonight [Monday], and we might get another evening as well."
Aurora are best observed through camera lenses that are more sensitive than our eyes, although they can occasionally be seen with the naked eye, as they were yesterday night.
Griffin recommended anybody expecting to see the lights go to a dark location away from artificial lights and towns, with a clear view of the stars.
He stated that New Zealanders are currently experiencing more auroras than average.
"We're quite a long way from the really active area of the aurora," according to Griffin. "And it's only at times near solar maximum that we get these displays like we had last night when they were overhead."
Photographers Grant Birley and Matthew Davison flew from Auckland to the South Island to avoid the clouds and maximize their chances of capturing the magic of the auroras.
They set up at Lake Ellesmere in Canterbury around 10.30 p.m., where Birley stated, "We could see faint colour with the naked eye, but we could clearly see the aurora move and dance across the sky." We could see the beams bouncing off the horizon and then, like fingers, reaching high into the sky and overhead.
"As time went on, so the yellow auroral glow seemed to spread wider and wider on the horizon and climb higher and higher in the sky, like a dome," according to Birley. "It was a faint yellow to the eye at best, but as it got larger, it became brighter until all of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, "I noticed auroral pillars/beams reaching into the sky."
The prospects for King's Birthday Monday were looking promising. Forecasters at the US Government's Space Weather Prediction Centre predicted that between 3 pm and 6 pm NZT on Monday, global magnetic conditions, known as Kp, might reach over 8Kp and stay above 6Kp until midnight NZT (midday UTC).
Aurora can "become quite bright and active" at levels of 6Kp and above, moving far further across the world than merely the North and South Poles, where they are more commonly found, according to the agency. At 8Kp, the intensity and brightness increase, and more places may be able to view them. "These are the events that create the best aurora and the extended auroral oval will be observable by the most people," according to them.
Griffin predicted that conditions for auroras would be favourable for the next six to twelve months because the sun's magnetic activity was at its peak during its 11-year cycle.
Winter provided advantages for aurora hunters because the night was darker for longer. But New Zealand had a wonderful geographic position for aurora observation, and it also provided good opportunities throughout the rest of the year, Griffin said.
"One of the coolest things about New Zealand is it's pretty much the only place in the world where you can watch an aurora in the middle of summer, wearing shorts and jandals."