Aurora Australis Lights Up the Great Southern Night Sky

Residents across the Great Southern were treated to a rare natural phenomenon as the aurora lit up the southern sky, painting it with hues of pink, red and green on Tuesday night. The aurora australis occurs when charged particles from the Sun collide with Earth’s magnetic field, creating glowing waves of light in the atmosphere. While long exposure cameras captured the aurora’s most vivid colours, a coloured glow was still visible to the naked eye as it stretched across the horizon. Keen aurora photographer Ruth Tinley said she has been photographing auroras for about 10 years and her fascination for them began in Albany. “My first sighting of the aurora was when I lived in Albany as a child and my dad woke me up in the middle of the night to come and see the sky,” she said. “It was a visible red glow in the sky with moving white beams and I was absolutely fascinated.” Ms Tinley is now based in Williams but was on holidays at Camp Kennedy in Torbay when the aurora lit up the sky. “I was excited to finally be in Albany when there was an aurora event on, because we often see it from Williams, but the colours are different when you are at a more southerly latitude,” she said. “I was excited to be able to see the green colour at the bottom, which is not usually visible from Williams.” Mt Barker resident Courtnee Brown said her view of the aurora was clear and beautiful. “It’s the first time I’ve ever seen it so visible,” she said. “You could see it without the camera — it was stunning.”