On the evening of March 27 I headed up to Freycinet, lured by clear skies and a small possibility of an aurora – which has been quite elusive for me lately, it has been ages since I shot a good aurora!

Minor aurora and major Milky Way – Freycinet National Park, March 27, 2019

Minor aurora and major Milky Way – Freycinet National Park, March 27, 2019

Minor aurora and major Milky Way – Freycinet National Park, March 27, 2019

The skies stayed clear – mostly – although there was an unfortunately positioned line of smoke right across the southern horizon which sorta kinda got in the way, and a bit of light pollution, perhaps from fishing boats? There was indeed a light aurora glow above all the muck, a subtle pink glow beneath a stunning galactic portrait – the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds were truly stunning.

Minor aurora and major Milky Way – Freycinet National Park, March 27, 2019

I also managed to capture a shooting star, right through the Large Magellanic cloud. The shot below is a crop of a much wider angle shot.

Meteor and Magellanic Cloud

It was surprising – and disappointing – to see that light pollution is becoming such an issue, even in a place like this but whachagonnado… In any case it was great to be out under Tassie’s stunning night sky again 🙂