Daily London
The aurora australis will be on display for mid to southern parts of Australia tonight thanks to a severe geomagnetic storm impacting Earth.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Space Weather Forecasting Centre has issued an “aurora watch” for the coming hours with visibility possible.
Swinburne Space Technology and Industry Institute Dr Rebecca Allen said people as far east as Sydney and as far west as Perth will be able to witness the phenomenon from sunset about 8pm AEST.
“You would potentially have a bit better of a chance seeing it further on the east coast versus the west coast, because of just potentially when the activity is peaking,” she said.
Allen said the best way to see the auroras would be at places with a clear view of the horizon, like a beach or bay.
“It’s going to be a bit trickier for us in the urban environments,” she said.
Auroras can be observed from as far as 1000km away if it is bright and the conditions are favourable.
It is quite rare for them to be visible over large parts of Australia.
Auroras are caused by particles from a geomagnetic storm interacting with the Earth’s magnetic field, which Allen said creates “beautiful curtains of light”.
Solar wind or flares typically spark these storms.
NASA has recorded a large solar flare in the past 24 hours.
Allen said the sun is currently at its most active part of the 11-year solar cycle and is peaking.
“So that’s why we’re seeing so much aurora activity,” she said.
Allen said there have been more reports of aurora activity than ever before, which has set a “new tone for what we expect” in the coming years.
“We haven’t seen anything like this before,” she said.
“What’s to say during the next solar cycle that there couldn’t even be more of these flares?”
