Aurora Australis: What’s the ‘go’ with the pink sky light show?

Auroral displays are some of the most impressive spectacles of nature. Curtains of light, rays, arcs, pulsating, and dancing are all terms used to describe these red, green, or sometimes purple light shows.

But, why do they occur?

The night-sky phenomena arises from events on the Sun millions of kilometres away. Gigantic solar flares often blast streams of charged particles into the solar wind and outwards towards the Earth.

These particles are directed by the magnetic field of the Earth where they collide with atoms in the atmosphere. It is these collisions which generate the beautiful lights which are observed as the aurora.

The patterns and shapes of the aurora are determined by the changing flow of charged particles and the varying magnetic fields.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s space weather forecaster, Dr Jeanne Young, believes you must be “pretty lucky” to see an aurora, but if you do happen to catch a glimpse of the fascinating light show, you won’t be disappointed.

The brightest auroras are rings called the aurora ovals, which circle around the north and south poles.

The auroras in the Northern Hemisphere are called Aurora Borealis, meanwhile, here in Australia you are viewing what is called the Aurora Australis.

Dr Young said the light show is “best visible from Antarctica, Tasmania and the southern mainland coastlines”.

The best way to view it is on a dark night (without a bright moon or any light pollution). Optimal locations are a dark beach or a hill, where you have an un-obstructed view to the south.

Bright auroras last for about one to three hours and the best viewing time is between 10pm and midnight.

Travis Carroll from Tarrawingee, Victoria, operates Carroll's Kelpies as well as a sheep and cattle farm. He has a keen interest in geomagnetic activity and was alerted to the event in the sky by an app, called “Aurora”.

The photos have now attracted more than 18,000 reactions on Meta as well more than 1,000 shares.

Mr Carroll captured the iconic pictures at 4.30am on his iPhone, with his horses the subject matter.

“I was up early before work, but I'd sort of follow what's going on with the geomagnetic storms. I'm a bit of a geek like that. I like to keep it on the weather and stuff anyway, just for the farm,” Mr Carroll said.

People were infatuated with the pictures.

“I’ve been accused of using cardboard cutting for horses and God knows what, from some of the comments. But I assure you, they're real horses," he said.

As a keen follower of the night-sky activity, Mr Carroll believes the southern areas of the nation are seeing the most activity of the solar cycle.

“This year, the sun's been really active, so we're in solar cycles, almost in a solar maximum at the moment. I think 2025, is the solar maximum. So there's 11 years solar cycle will get, you know, more active and less active throughout the cycles, but it's going into its most active cycle,” Mr Carroll said.

With the solar cycle nearing its maximum, it's an exciting time for Australians to witness these spectacular natural events.