Hardy Tropicals UK

With the recent peak in solar activity we were treated to a spectacular light show here in Tasmania. Its only the second aurora that Ive been fortunate to witness and while this one was quite spectacular was more subdued than the first one I saw back in 2004 which was exhilarating to watch!

Anyway here are some pictures with some nice Tasmanian scenery for your viewing pleasure...


http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2012 ... thscience1


Enjoy!

Stunning!

Great pics, amazing colours. Must have been very memorable viewing indeed.

Sean, are you going to be within the narrow band that will get to see the total solar eclipse on November 13th? Being in Australia you'll defintely see something as the Moon's penumbral shadow produces a partial eclipse right acroos Oz and New Zealand but I think only certain areas of Northern Australia will get the full effect.

Yep Goggs I sure will be in Darwin on that date and Darwin is in the zone of totality. However totality will come right on sunrise so we will only get a glimpse of the latter part of the eclipse

Heres an animation that shows what Darwin will experience. Places further east such as Cairns will get the full show but alas Darwin will only get a tease...


http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/australia/darwin

Wow!

There are some excellent shots there.

I have never seen it, and whilst in theory I should stand a good chance being this far up north, I think there is too much light pollution around here sadly

Adam D wrote:Wow!

There are some excellent shots there.

I have never seen it, and whilst in theory I should stand a good chance being this far up north, I think there is too much light pollution around here sadly

Adam we are quite fortunate here in Tasmania near the bottom of the world to have some of the clearest and cleanest atmospheres and relatively unpopulated. You can see from the pictures how little light pollution there is and the night skies are splendid and you can literally see hundreds of thousands of stars.

The first aurora I saw happened while I was living in a tiny village an hour out of Hobart with the clearest and darkest of skies. It was an extraordinary experience, whereas this one was a shifting green glow on the southern horizon the one I saw back in 2004 can be best described as like being inside one of those plasma ball things. There was light skittering all over the sky in greens, purples, blues and reds. It was constantly changing both in colour as well as 'texture', sometimes it was ribbons of light, sometimes it was like sparks that would flicker across the sky and then it would just become a soft glow... I sat outside in the freezing cold for hours watching it until my neck was so sore from looking up that I couldnt do it any longer and went inside to bed.

Phenomenal experience!

wow! nature sure is beautiful