Aurora over New Zealand

Aurora over New Zealand

Sam Lawler: "Auroras were just barely visible to the naked eye, the colours only showed up with a camera."

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.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Arthur's Pass is a township in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand, located in the Selwyn district. It is a popular base for exploring Arthur's Pass National Park.

New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and over 600 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga.

Image Credit: Sam Lawler
Location: near Arthur's Pass, New Zealand

Release Date: March 14, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Sun #SolarSystem #Planets #Earth #Aurora #AuroraAustralis #SouthernLights #Astrophotography #SamLawler #Astrophotographers #ArthursPass #SelwynDistrict #SouthIsland #NewZealand #STEM #Education