SPACE watchers glancing at the night sky over the next couple of nights could be lucky enough to glimpse vast swathes of natural fluorescent red, pink and green lights.
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Parts of Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales are currently experiencing increased instances of Aurora Australis, or the Southern Lights, which are caused by solar flares colliding with energy particles in the earth's magnetic field.
Under clear skies, photographers got up early and braved the cold on Tuesday morning to see the dancing lights, with the prospect of more opportunities to come over the next few days.
Bendigo photographer Noni Hyett, 27, captured a series of stunning pictures of the phenomena from her vantage point at Cairn Curran Reservoir, in central Victoria, just before dawn.
She had earlier trekked out to the same spot at midnight but went home when the sky was too cloudy to see anything. Happily, she tried her luck again a few hours later and saw the purple, green and red glow.
One of the photos, she said, looked like a "Marilyn Monroe pout". Another caught an iridium flare from a satellite.
"It started just before 5am, we got a little bit of red and then it slowly grew and grew and then it changed with pink and purple," she said.
It started just before 5am, we got a little bit of red and then it slowly grew and grew and then it changed with pink and purple.
- Noni Hyett
Bureau of Meteorology space weather scientist Dr Richard Marshall said the earth was currently emerging from the peak of its 11-year solar weather cycle, which led to increased instances of Aurora Australis.
He said there had been three solar flares in the last few days, which had all cascaded together to create the glow, which was seen from Ocean Grove in Victoria all the way up to Girvan, on the NSW central coast.
"Normally we'll see them around Tasmania, which are the lower level magnetic storms," he said. "Seeing them that far north means it is quite a severe storm."
Dr Marshall said the current magnetic storm was still taking place, meaning there should be a chance people could view the lights again on Tuesday night.
Failing that, a more recent solar flare could result in another opportunity on Wednesday night.
He said the green lights were caused by oxygen, while the red comes from nitrogen and oxygen further up in the atmosphere.
The magnetic storms can cause problems with communications, including radio frequencies and GPS devices.
The lights, known as Aurora Borealis in the northern hemisphere, are caused when electrically charged electrons and protons accelerate down the Earth's magnetic field lines and collide with neutral atoms in the upper atmosphere, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Space Weather Service operates a subscription service offering information on the best times to see Aurora Australis.
