Aurora Australis Lights Up Southern Sky In Sensational Display

Due to a rare geomagnetic storm a magnificent light display was visible in certain areas of New Zealand and Australia.

The Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, was captured clearly over the skies of both countries. This sight in the Southern Hemisphere was matched in the Northern Hemisphere by the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, whose vivid sights are expected to continue from Alaska through Canada.

Many New Zealand spectators took to their social media accounts to share the images that they witnessed.

The geomagnetic storm, which is just one notch below the highest category of the solar storm, began at about 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Centre. The geomagnetic storm is the result of a pair of coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, that left the Sun on March 15 and are now interacting with Earth’s atmosphere and geomagnetic field.

Article source: Mashable, Jenni Ryall, Wednesday 18 March

Image: Twitter/BrendonDoran