Most southern lightshows occur during the Southern Hemisphere’s fall and winter months, which stretch from March through September . Here are four aurora australis hotspots for those looking for a southern celestial spectacle.
How often do auroras occur?
“Active periods are typically about 30 minutes long, and occur every two hours , if the activity is high. The aurora is a sporadic phenomenon, occurring randomly for short periods or perhaps not at all.”
Does aurora borealis happen frequently?
They are visible from late August to early April anytime during dark hours , which in places like Abisko or Tromsø can be nearly 24 hours a day in winter.
What causes Aurora Australis to occur?
The famous Northern and Southern Lights — Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis for those Latin lovers among us — are caused by high-energy particles from the Sun cascading down on Earth . As they near our planet, they interact with Earth’s magnetic field, which channels them toward the north and south magnetic poles.
Can you see Aurora Australis with naked eyes?
Mike Taylor has photographed many colors in the fantastic Northern Lights displays and has been lucky enough to observe including green, purple, yellow, orange, red, magenta and blue. ... The simplistic answer is because human eyes can’t see the relatively “faint” colors of the aurora at night .
What happens if you touch aurora borealis?
The aurora is emitted between 90 and 150 km in altitude (i.e. mostly above the ‘official’ boundary of space, 100 km), so ungloving your hand inside an aurora would likely be fatal (unless a fellow astronaut immediately reattaches your glove and repressurizes your suit).
Are Northern Lights rare?
Rare, all-red auroras are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 200 miles. ... The lights of the Aurora generally extend from 80 kilometres (50 miles) to as high as 640 kilometres (400 miles) above the earth’s surface.
Can you see Northern Lights in Australia?
Australia has its own version, called the Aurora Australis or Southern Lights. ... In the north around the Arctic Circle, you’ll be able to see the Aurora Borealis from Greenland, Iceland, northern Canada, Norway and Russia.
What is the main cause of an Aurora?
The short answer to how the aurora happens is that energetic electrically charged particles (mostly electrons) accelerate along the magnetic field lines into the upper atmosphere , where they collide with gas atoms, causing the atoms to give off light.
Where is the best place to see the aurora australis?
- Bruny Island, Tasmania. “Bruny” as it’s affectionately known by Tasmanians, is a favourite weekend getaway. ...
- Satellite Island, Tasmania. ...
- Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, Tasmania. ...
- The Central Highlands, Tasmania. ...
- Bathurst Harbour, Tasmania.
What do Northern Lights look like in real life?
When you see them in real life, the Northern Lights aren’t actually very colorful at all. They often appear milky white in color , “almost like a cloud,” as one seasoned traveler puts it. ... He says he often sees them as mostly white, with faint hints of red and pink. Only in photos do other tones emerge.
Can you see Aurora with your eyes?
Mike Taylor has photographed many colors in the fantastic Northern Lights displays and has been lucky enough to observe including green, purple, yellow, orange, red, magenta and blue. ... The simplistic answer is because human eyes can’t see the relatively “faint” colors of the aurora at night .
Are there southern lights like the Northern Lights?
In northern latitudes, the effect is known as the aurora borealis or the northern lights. ... The southern counterpart, the aurora australis or the southern lights, has features almost identical to the aurora borealis and changes simultaneously with changes in the northern auroral zone.
Can a plane fly through the Northern Lights?
“We can actually fly into the auroras ,” says eye-witness Don Pettit, a Flight Engineer for ISS Expedition 30. ... Lately, the International Space Station has been flying through geomagnetic storms
Can you fly in the Northern Lights?
“We can actually fly into the auroras ,” said NASA astronaut Don Pettit, a flight engineer for the orbiting lab’s current Expedition 30. ... “The auroras could be seen [as brightly as] city lights on the Earth below, and even in the day-night terminator of the rising and setting sun,” Pettit said.
What month is best to see the Northern Lights?
To see the Northern Lights you need dark skies and from early-April until late-August, the Aurora may be blazing across the Arctic firmament but it is visible only to scientific equipment, as the skies are just too light for the human eye to see the show.
