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southern lights

The aurora of May 11 2024

Oh what a night! The aurora of May 11 2024 was an incredible night under the southern lights not just in Tasmania but all over the world. In the week leading up to May 11, a major sunspot on the sun fired off multiple major (X-class) flares in succession, leading astronomers to predict a very...Read More

The aurora and STEVE

Watching an aurora is always a fantastic experience but this particular evening had some extra goodness to it. Whilst each display of the aurora is quite different, typically there is a greenish glow along the horizon with a varied range of red-pink-purple colours above it. There is also a subset of “sub-auroral forms”, a couple...Read More
southern lights tasman island

Southern Lights over Tasman Island

Well this was unexpected – on our recent hike out to Cape Pillar we caught the Southern Lights over Tasman Island! In my previous post I mentioned we got clouded out after our sunset/dusk shoot, but ever the optimist, we decided to get up early just in case – and then this happened: The light...Read More
aurora australis kunanyi mt wellington february 2023

The pulsating aurora

On February 27 a major aurora occurred across Tasmania. A lot of the state was cloudy including Hobart and the south east, but luckily for Hobartians we have a big giant mountain with a webcam nearby. During the early evening I watched in dismay as the clouds seemed destined to ruin a great show. I...Read More

Aurora and bioluminescence

I have been keen to photograph an aurora and bioluminescence in the same shot for quite a while now and a couple of nights ago I finally landed it!   The day was basically completely cloudy and there wasn’t even a great deal of expectation of an aurora but late in the afternoon I noticed...Read More
Aurora Australis off the Tasman Peninsula, Feb 3, 2022

Tasman Peninsula Aurora

2022 marks my 10 year anniversary of shooting the aurora here in Tasmania, and I have to say, after all this time, the excitement has not waned one little bit. In fact, some of these shots from the Tasman Peninsula on Thursday night would have to count as “personal best” aurora shots! I found myself...Read More
aurora australis tasmania november 4 2021

The Southern Lights are back!

Thursday November 4, 2021 was a stunning night viewing the southern lights, and included some incredibly high beams on a perfectly clear and dark night. Tasmania was treated to a real spectacle as a major geomagnetic storm hit and the aurora put on a mesmerising dance. The night was perfectly clear for what was one...Read More

Aurora at Freycinet National Park

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! The skies stayed clear – mostly – although there was an unfortunately positioned line...Read More

Southern Lights August 2017

The southern lights have been a little few and far between lately – and by “lately”, I mean the past year or two… This is not unexpected or surprising, as we are now well into solar minimum, so solar activity is low and the aurora is less frequent. The aurora is still appearing periodically, but...Read More

Tessellated Pavement Aurora

Well I got my wish! On my most recent blog post just a couple of days ago I commented it would be nice to get another aurora sometime soon and last night the numbers looked good, and the sky relatively clear so I packed and took off for Eaglehawk Neck for another crack at catching...Read More

Aurora Tasmania October 7-8 2015

I have been chasing the southern lights for a few years now and last week, on the night of October 7-8, witnessed the most beautiful display of the aurora in Tasmania I have ever seen. Simply beautiful. A very strong arc was visible when I arrived at Nine Pin Point, about an hour south of...Read More
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