Southern Lights

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The Southern Lights observed from Lion Rock in Southwest National Park, Tasmania

While many travel out north to see the Northern Lights, the southern lights or aurora australis too are a spectacular sight. Unfortunately, outside of Antarctica, the lights are not easily visible, and such not well observed, but the aurora can be seen in many of the eastern Subantarctic islands, Tasmania, South Island and Stewart Island.

Understand

The Southern Lights taken from the ISS

Aurorae happen in an oval about the South Magnetic Pole just as they do about the North one, and the South Magnetic Pole is similarly offset from the geographic South Pole. Observers of the Southern Lights' often benefit from the happy accident that the offset of the South Magnetic Pole is generally in the direction of Australia, although the Pole itself is still in Antarctica like the geographic one. The southern parts of Australia and New Zealand get more than their share of the lights relative to their latitude.

The three most ideal places to see the Southern Lights are Tasmania, South Island and Stewart Island where the lights can be observed several times a year. If conditions are right, Hobart and Invercargill offer the best chance in places that are quickly accessible from within Australia and New Zealand. Although Christchurch has a similar geographic latitude south of Hobart, its "geomagnetic latitude" is further north, and northernmost place where the aurora can be seen is no more likely than southern Victoria. Check the space weather while you are travelling.

With that said, all these locations are still outside the auroral belt itself, though, and are far enough away that a trip there to see the lights may not end up as what you may expect to see and those wanting to get right under the lights will have some difficult travel ahead.

Because of the skew towards the Eastern Hemisphere, it is likely you won't be seeing the aurora from Patagonia, or even from the Antarctic Peninsula. The optimal trip would be to Antarctica's Ross Sea via Macquarie Island (Australia) or the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands. The best viewing would be from the boat itself. The closest island to the auroral belt that has a good range of tourist accommodation is Stewart Island which too requires some planning.

Prepare

The right conditions can bring one of the most rewarding experiences

The general advice in Northern Lights § Prepare also applies to the Southern Lights.

Light pollution around cities can mask a faint aurora, however, Tasmania and South Island don't have many large cities but you should still try and view them 30 km from civilization – the further away you are from the towns and cities, the better viewing opportunities. You also need to keep in mind the risk of cold weather.

The shape of a polar aurora is very diverse. Bright arcs and rays of light begin 100 km above the earth's surface and extend upward along the magnetic field for hundreds of kilometres. Arches can be very thin, even as little as 100 m, while extending from horizon to horizon. They can be almost motionless and then, as if an invisible hand has touched them, begin to move and twist. After midnight, the aurora can take a speckled shape and each of the spots often flashes roughly every 10 seconds until dawn.

Most of the light visible in the Southern Lights are either green, yellow, or red. In addition to producing light, the energetic particles that form the aurora carry cold heat. This is dissipated as infrared radiation or carried away by strong winds from the upper lower atmosphere.

Given the aurora's chances of visibility can vary, you need to be prepared for failure. Aurora Service has a page predicting the chances of you being able to see the aurora, lowering your chances of failure, but it can still happen.

Destinations

Taken from Bluff, South Island

Unlike the Northern Lights, there are few places where one can clearly see the Southern Lights as the below the -43° line for Tasmania and the -48° line for Stewart Island, it is entirely the Southern Ocean and such there is also a higher chance of failure.

South Island

• 1 Lake Tekapo may be known for just a star gazing area, but it too is well known for the aurora
• 2 Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park has some of the highest peaks in New Zealand, and if the conditions are just right, it may be possible to see the aurora
• 3 The Catlins

Tasmania

See also: Tasmanian national parks#The Southern Lights

The aurora from the D'Entrecasteaux Channel

The aurora can be seeen in some suburbs of the Tasmanian capital of Hobart, including 4 Mount Nelson . It may not exactly be the most clearest, but the aurora can still be seen.

• 5 Mount Wellington is a 30-minute drive from Hobart is a prime destination for viewing the aurora, also given its high altitude too

Other places to see the aurora in Tasmania include:

• 6 Southwest National Park – Tasmania's largest park covered in wilderness. The sheer isolation makes it a good spot to see the aurora but given its isolation, it is not easy to get to.
• 7 Cockle Creek contains the southernmost road in Australia. While technically parts of it are part of SW National Park, it has no direct road access from the rest of the park, making it its own destination. Given it is far south, it makes it one of the easiest places to spot the aurora.
• 8 Bruny Island – the most visited offshore island of Tasmania has some of the finest views of the aurora in the state. A particularly good spot in the island is somewhere down the coast or in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel.

Victoria

Being a rather northerly location, there are few spots in Victoria where the Southern Lights can be seen, and the chances of seeing them are slim.

See also

• The Northern Lights