Aurora Australis — When, Where and Tips

Most people are so excited about seeing Northern lights, but the southern hemisphere also has the same phenomenon, which is known as Aurora Australis. There are very few countries close to southern hemisphere mainly 2 famous travel destinations : New Zealand and southern part of Australia which are blessed with these mesmerised lights.

We were fortunate enough to catch southern lights in Tasmania, in this article I am giving you my 5 cents on chasing southern lights in Australia or New Zealand.

I am not a photographer, and you don’t have to be one to see or capture these dancing lights in the southern sky. Each time I have seen it, it was visible to naked eye. There are times that it was only visible via camera, but it is not always the case.

Use Aurora Forecast apps:

Aurora is unpredictable. But there are some apps or websites that can predict Aurora behaviour to some extent, but you can’t be 100% sure until you actually see it. I will list below what apps I use in Tasmania to catch Aurora.

1. Gendale app — This is a website that actually predicts colonel holes, and Aurora in real time. This screenshot is taken where there was a strong Aurora in March 2021. As you can see the activity level is set to 4 and it is in Orange colour, which means there is a big possibility to see Aurora at the moment. When there is no Aurora activity, this will show activity level 0 or level 1 or 2 in green colour. The maximum level I have seen so far is level 5 which is very strong Aurora activity. Higher the activity level better it is for naked eye Aurora. You don’t have to be an expert to read all the figures and graphs you see in this app. You just need to look at the message at the top of the page to see if Aurora is visible

2. Aurora is another mobile app I use, but I believe this app is more suitable. for chasing northern lights than southern lights. Higher the kp index is, the better. On a normal day without Aurora kp index is around 2. With the strong Aurora storm, I have seen this go high as 7.

But none of those apps are 100% accurate to predict the future activity. So I do not recommend you to visit Tasmania or New Zealand if you are planning a trip just to chase Aurora in a few days. We have been chasing for 7 weeks before we actually saw our first Aurora. This is not something you can see in a short trip unless you are very lucky.

Is it visible to naked eye?

Yes and No. You can see very bright glows and sometimes beams in the southern part of the sky, but I have never seen colours in naked eye. For that you need a camera, even most phone cameras are good enough. I use night time mode in my iphone 11 pro max (30 sec exposure 1x, Auto ISO settings). But if you need very good quality photos and manual iso settings, better to use a camera and a tripod to get the best quality.

Where to see them.

You need to find a place where there is very less light pollution to catch Aurora, and has a proper south viewing point. I use Aurora Australis Viewing locations map. This has a set of locations in New zealand, Tasmania and some parts of Australia mainland where it is possible to see Aurora. You alway need to point your cameras south. And If it visible, it will be visible to all locations of Tasmania, you don’t have to be in Hobart (or most southern point in Tasmania) to see it, it will be visible to the north part of Tasmania as well as long as you have a clear sky. But if the Aurora is not strong enough it may not be visible to mainland Australia. I have seen Aurora posts from Victoria and NSW when there is a very strong storm. But if you are in Tasmania, there is a good possibility.

Is it only visible in winter?

No. Aurora is active throughout the year. The reason behind seeing Aurora in winter mostly is because you can only see Aurora when it is dark. During winter we have less day time and more night time. In summer it is the other way around. That is why people have an increased chance of seeing Aurora in winter, but from my experience I have seen Aurora in Summer as well.

What are the perfect weather conditions?

Weather plays a major part in seeing Aurora, you need clear sky non-rainy weather to see Aurora. I remember days where we got disappointed as Aurora is not visible to some areas due to heavy clouds but visible to all other areas. I always use Tasmania cloud forecast to check cloud cover before going out for Aurora capture.

Is there anyone I can ask for guidance to chase Aurora Australis?

Yes. If you are chasing Aurora in Tasmania, you are not alone. There are lots of people who are excited as much you do to see Aurora. May be for the first time, or may be they are chasing it for years and don’t want to miss a single chance. There is a public facebook group called “Aurora Australis Tasmania” where you can ask questions, post your photos taken on Aurora. This is the page that made my Aurora dream a reality. This is where I learnt about the Glendale app, how to catch aurora and what viewing locations etc. Members of this group are very responsive to your questions, and admins of the group has years and years of experience chasing Aurora Australis and if anyone sees Aurora they post a message in the group so you don’t always have to be on alert of the notifications you see in your mobile apps, or read all the confusing graphs and figures. I highly recommend you to join this group and go though the page intro and rules list before you ask any question, because your question may have already answered in the intro.

How long will Aurora last?

Well , the first time we have seen Aurora, it lasted for more than 3 hours, more recently I have seen it has been active for more than 4–5 hours, but sometimes it is limited to just a few minutes (10–20 mins) . You can’t really tell !!!

I wish all of you can catch Aurora in the coming years, when the travelling is back to normal again, I really hope it will.