Astroblog: Round Up of Last Nights Aurora

Monday, June 18, 2012

Round Up of Last Nights Aurora


Annie Benham sends in this great photo from Tasmania. This was her first aurora, even though she has lived in Tasmania for18 years.	Paul Albers sent in this beautiful photo from Pt. Leo in southern Victoria.

Last nights aurora caught me by surprise, the coronal mass ejection had hit the previous day, and the IPS space weather site was quiet, then the Aurora Australis Facebook page and Southern Aurora listserve started coming out with reports of aurora.

Although the weather was poor with lots of cloud cover, people were soon coming in with reports of amazing sky sights. I even got a report from Mount Gambier in South Australia! Sadly nothing happened in Adelaide. As the night wound on the internet resounded with delighted cries as glowing pillars broke through gaps in the cloud. The spectacle eventually died down around 11 pm.

All through this the IPS site carried on as if no aurora were happening at all.

As well as the images sent to me above (remember, copyright is vested with the people who took them, so play nice) there are some fantastic images for the Tasmanians.

Julie Head has this lovely image from the Forth Valley.
Ian Stewart got this beauty at the boat launch at Tinderbox overlooking Bruny Island.
Maureen Johnston's fantastic shot was taken at Howden.
Rick Keen has a stunning shot from Mt Wellington, looking over Kingston.

The solar cycle is still ramping up, so we may have a few more of these events in the near future.

Labels: astrophotography, aurora