Aurora australis a Sunday no-show, but bright lights could return this year

Stargazers flocked to bayside Melbourne and coastal Victoria overnight hoping to enjoy aurora australis, but sadly, there was no repeat show of Saturday’s extraordinary light show.

However, Professor Andrew Cole, who teaches physics at the University of Tasmania, said there could be more chances to spy the southern lights later this year as the sun was at its most active phase in a decade.

“You can never actually say the moment at which the aurora is going to stop and start, but it’s more likely [to happen] now than it has been in quite some time,” he said. “It could maintain its activity for the rest of this year ... this is a roughly a ‘once every couple of decades’ kind of event.”

Some residents of the Mornington Peninsula and bayside Melbourne reported crowds that exceeded those on New Year’s Eve. Crowds also gathered at Altona Beach about midnight, trying to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon but were left disappointed. The lights are best viewed in clear skies, away from city lights.

Stunning pink and green hues were seen dancing through the sky across Tasmania, outback Western Australia, and along coastal regions of Victoria and South Australia on Saturday night. The southern lights are usually only visible in Tasmania or Victoria’s far south.

The southern lights were even visible in the cities of Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth on Saturday, although light pollution made the aurora less vibrant. But heavy cloud and rainfall hampered views in Sydney and Canberra that night.

Alan Duffy, Swinburne University astronomer and Pro Vice Chancellor of Flagship Initiatives, said the weekend’s aurora was the most powerful in decades and 2024 would be a “peak aurora-viewing year”.

“If you missed this weekend, don’t worry. There will be another, we just don’t know when,” he said.

“I can’t say it will be as large … the weekend’s was the most powerful in decades so we’re not quite going to get that.”

He advised people to sign up for the Bureau of Meteorology’s space weather app. “It’s free, it will give you an alert. Once you get a decent alert, go somewhere dark, let your eyes adjust for about three minutes, look south, and hopefully, you can see.”

Astronomer and Monash University associate professor Michael Brown said he wouldn’t be returning to Cape Schanck on Monday night to catch a glimpse of aurora australis after Saturday’s “jaw-dropping” experience.

“Aurora are quite fickle and hard to predict, so while there’s a chance of aurora tonight, I’d recommend some caution,” he said.

“To see where auroras are right now, I often use [the US Space Weather Prediction Centre] and I also keep an eye on local social media reports to see if auroras are visible from Victoria.

“Saturday evening was jaw-dropping, so while more aurora may be seen in the coming days and months, we may not see something as spectacular for quite some time.”

The US Space Weather Prediction Centre said aurora can often be observed from just after sunset or just before sunrise, from as far as 1000 kilometres away if conditions are right.

“The aurora is an indicator of the current geomagnetic storm conditions and provides situational awareness for a number of technologies,” it said.

“For many people, the aurora is a beautiful nighttime phenomenon that is worth travelling to Arctic regions just to observe. It is the only way for most people to actually experience space weather.”

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