Weather News

Aurora Australis puts on a show

Anthony Duke, Friday October 9, 2015 - 11:14 AEDT

The last few nights have brought a spectacular light show to Tasmania, southern Victoria and New Zealand, with the potential for more to come over the next few weeks.

You may have seen some wonderfully colourful shots of the night skies this week, from Tasmania and New Zealand, to the skies over northern USA and Europe. For southern parts of the country, there should be more occasions to catch a glimpse of this phenomena over the next few weeks.

The chances of seeing the Aurora Australis are increased at the moment for two main reasons.

The first is due to the sun's current phase in its 11 year cycle. Our sun is now in a declining phase after it's solar maximum observed in early 2014.

In this phase, holes in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, are close to the sun's equator and are more likely to produce a solar wind stream directed at the earth. It's this solar wind that throws charged particles at the Earth, disrupting our planet's protective magnetic field and creating the dancing light show.

Another influence is the time of year, specifically that we have not long passed the spring equinox. This influence is much less understood, but it has been observed that the spring and autumn equinoxes tend to bring increased aurora activity.

The recent increased solar wind is now easing so seeing the southern lights are less likely over the next few days. However, further ahead more aurora activity is an increased chance.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2015

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