Whenever I hear of the possibility of Aurora being visible from latitudes such as Nowra I immediately think about the scene in the Simpsons where Superintendent Chalmers questions an Aurora Borealis being present in Skinners kitchen.
Last week came as a pleasant surprised to all fans of Aurora as bright lights coloured the southern skies in Nowra. But how is it possible for an Aurora to appear in latitudes as high as ours? It all comes down to activity from the sun.
What causes Aurora ?
The Earth is protected from the harmful solar and cosmic radiation thanks to the liquid iron core in its centre. This iron core is responsible for producing a magnetic field (magnetosphere) around the Earth which deflects charged particles. Without it, life wouldn’t be possible.
The magnetosphere funnels some of the charged particles from the sun to the Earths poles. The interaction between charged particles exciting elements in our Earths atmosphere is what causes spectacular colours of the Aurora. The intensity of the Aurora depends on the amount of charged particles coming from the sun.In the larger solar storms aurora can be visible far away from the poles. In 1859 a Solar flare from the sun caused aurora to be visible from latitudes such as Hawaii.
Statistically it is possible under the right conditions to see Aurora from latitudes such as Nowra within your lifetime.
When would Aurora be visible from Nowra?
It is more likely for Aurora to appear in Nowra when the sun is at its solar maximum during the 11 year sunspot cycle. The sun is now at its solar maximum so it isn’t unsurprising large solar flares have impacted Earth.
May 31st Coronal Mass Ejection
On the 31st of May a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) was observed from the sun. Although the intensity of the solar flare was M8.1 what made it significant was that the CME was facing directly towards Earth. The predicted levels of plasma from the CME meant the geomagnetic activity was going to be high. The plasma from the CME was expected to hit after sunset on June 1st. Aurora websites predicted that there was a possibility for the aurora to be visible as far north as Ballina.
Unfortunately predicting aurora is almost as accurate as knowing how much you’re going to spend at a weekly shop. You’ll have a ballpark estimate and that’s it.
Hunting for the Aurora
After packing the car I first headed for a site in Nowra Hill at 7pm. It is just off the highway and has relatively low light pollution. After 30 mins fog began to fill the area so made the call to drive to Culburra.
I pulled up to Penguin Heads lookout at 8pm. When I arrived there were three other people present to see the aurora. By the time I left at 9pm over 30 people were crowded onto the boardwalk. Unfortunately five of us saw the best part of the aurora which was at around 8:20pm. My Canon R8 camera kept shooting away and also gave my iPhone camera a work for its money.
As I was driving out of Culburra a steady stream of cars were heading in. Unfortunately this was the last of the Aurora that would be seen during this CME. A blissful 20 mins of dancing lights.
Image Results
I wasn’t sure what results the cameras would produce however the recommended settings of ISO 2000 and 10-20 second exposures were used as recommended by Aurora photographers. I used a 15mm lens as I didn’t know what the best lens combo would be for aurora.
Out of a total of 300 photos only 3 made the grade for me as they are vivid and deep in colours. I was also able to make a quick video of the Aurora over Culburra. Overall I was disappointed at the lens I chose however happy about the photos that came from it.
