Aurora Australis: View from New Zealand
Astrophotographer Ian Griffin: "Cloud filled the sky over Dunedin, New Zealand, as geomagnetic activity began to rise—but experience (and stubborn optimism) sent me out anyway. For a while, it looked hopeless. Then the clouds thinned, the southern horizon cleared, and the sky exploded. A brilliant aurora australis surged over Hoopers Inlet tonight, green fire along the horizon with crimson towers reaching high into the stars. Reflected in the still water below, the display followed intensified solar wind conditions that pushed the auroral oval deep over New Zealand’s South Island. It was one of those unforgettable southern nights when patience is suddenly and spectacularly rewarded. Now, all I have to do is get up for work in the morning . . ."
Also known as the southern lights (aurora australis) or northern lights (aurora borealis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/
Location: Hoopers Inlet, South Island, New Zealand
Date: Feb. 22, 2026
#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Sun #SolarSystem #Planets #Earth #Aurora #AuroraAustralis #SouthernLights #Astrophotography #IanGriffin #Astrophotographer #HoopersInlet #SouthIsland #NewZealand #STEM #Education
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