'Once in a lifetime': pinks, purples, reds light up Hunter skies

The Advertiser

02-06-2025

As Mick Fortier set up his camera on Redhead beach on Sunday evening, pinks, purples and reds danced across the night sky.
"It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime sort of experience to be able to see it from Redhead, it was pretty unique," he said.
"It was really interesting, the dominant colour was a pinky, purply, reddish colour with bits of yellow, and it would spike in one area, and then in another."
With other keen aurora australis spotters, Mr Fortier arrived at the Lake Macquarie beach at about 7pm on June 1.
"It was the first time I've photographed the aurora," he said.
"I went up to the Redhead bluff, it started to move out over the ocean."
Aaron Sands was initially heading out to capture the Milky Way when he changed course to snap a picture of the aurora australis off Boat Harbour.
He said while the colours were muted to the naked eye, he could still see beams of light moving across the sky.
"It was the ultimate thrill," he said.
Aurora australis, or the southern lights, are triggered by geomagnetic storms that are caused by interactions of charged particles from the sun with the atmosphere of the Earth, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Ahead of Sunday's natural light show, the BOM Space Weather Forecasting Centre said a coronal mass ejection from the sun was forecast to impact the Earth that evening.
Coronial mass ejections are plasma clouds that travel at 3000 kilometres per second, resulting in a geomagnetic storm upon reaching Earth.
The aurora watch notice said anticipated geomagnetic activity was expected to produce a show on both June 1 and 2, with the chance of further activity on June 3.
"Aurora Alerts will be issued if significant geomagnetic activity occurs - these alerts provide more detailed information as to the latitudinal ranges where aurora may be visible," the bureau said in a statement,
The light show is generally visible to the naked eye near the north and south poles but will appear less bright at lower latitudes.
The BOM said nights with little cloud cover were ideal for viewing auroras and the display usually lasted one to three hours.
Aurora alerts were issued at https://www.sws.bom.gov.au/Aurora
As Mick Fortier set up his camera on Redhead beach on Sunday evening, pinks, purples and reds danced across the night sky.
"It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime sort of experience to be able to see it from Redhead, it was pretty unique," he said.
"It was really interesting, the dominant colour was a pinky, purply, reddish colour with bits of yellow, and it would spike in one area, and then in another."
With other keen aurora australis spotters, Mr Fortier arrived at the Lake Macquarie beach at about 7pm on June 1.
"It was the first time I've photographed the aurora," he said.
"I went up to the Redhead bluff, it started to move out over the ocean."
Aaron Sands was initially heading out to capture the Milky Way when he changed course to snap a picture of the aurora australis off Boat Harbour.
He said while the colours were muted to the naked eye, he could still see beams of light moving across the sky.
"It was the ultimate thrill," he said.
Aurora australis, or the southern lights, are triggered by geomagnetic storms that are caused by interactions of charged particles from the sun with the atmosphere of the Earth, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Ahead of Sunday's natural light show, the BOM Space Weather Forecasting Centre said a coronal mass ejection from the sun was forecast to impact the Earth that evening.
Coronial mass ejections are plasma clouds that travel at 3000 kilometres per second, resulting in a geomagnetic storm upon reaching Earth.
The aurora watch notice said anticipated geomagnetic activity was expected to produce a show on both June 1 and 2, with the chance of further activity on June 3.
"Aurora Alerts will be issued if significant geomagnetic activity occurs - these alerts provide more detailed information as to the latitudinal ranges where aurora may be visible," the bureau said in a statement,
The light show is generally visible to the naked eye near the north and south poles but will appear less bright at lower latitudes.
The BOM said nights with little cloud cover were ideal for viewing auroras and the display usually lasted one to three hours.
Aurora alerts were issued at https://www.sws.bom.gov.au/Aurora
As Mick Fortier set up his camera on Redhead beach on Sunday evening, pinks, purples and reds danced across the night sky.
"It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime sort of experience to be able to see it from Redhead, it was pretty unique," he said.
"It was really interesting, the dominant colour was a pinky, purply, reddish colour with bits of yellow, and it would spike in one area, and then in another."
With other keen aurora australis spotters, Mr Fortier arrived at the Lake Macquarie beach at about 7pm on June 1.
"It was the first time I've photographed the aurora," he said.
"I went up to the Redhead bluff, it started to move out over the ocean."
Aaron Sands was initially heading out to capture the Milky Way when he changed course to snap a picture of the aurora australis off Boat Harbour.
He said while the colours were muted to the naked eye, he could still see beams of light moving across the sky.
"It was the ultimate thrill," he said.
Aurora australis, or the southern lights, are triggered by geomagnetic storms that are caused by interactions of charged particles from the sun with the atmosphere of the Earth, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Ahead of Sunday's natural light show, the BOM Space Weather Forecasting Centre said a coronal mass ejection from the sun was forecast to impact the Earth that evening.
Coronial mass ejections are plasma clouds that travel at 3000 kilometres per second, resulting in a geomagnetic storm upon reaching Earth.
The aurora watch notice said anticipated geomagnetic activity was expected to produce a show on both June 1 and 2, with the chance of further activity on June 3.
"Aurora Alerts will be issued if significant geomagnetic activity occurs - these alerts provide more detailed information as to the latitudinal ranges where aurora may be visible," the bureau said in a statement,
The light show is generally visible to the naked eye near the north and south poles but will appear less bright at lower latitudes.
The BOM said nights with little cloud cover were ideal for viewing auroras and the display usually lasted one to three hours.
Aurora alerts were issued at https://www.sws.bom.gov.au/Aurora
As Mick Fortier set up his camera on Redhead beach on Sunday evening, pinks, purples and reds danced across the night sky.
"It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime sort of experience to be able to see it from Redhead, it was pretty unique," he said.
"It was really interesting, the dominant colour was a pinky, purply, reddish colour with bits of yellow, and it would spike in one area, and then in another."
With other keen aurora australis spotters, Mr Fortier arrived at the Lake Macquarie beach at about 7pm on June 1.
"It was the first time I've photographed the aurora," he said.
"I went up to the Redhead bluff, it started to move out over the ocean."
Aaron Sands was initially heading out to capture the Milky Way when he changed course to snap a picture of the aurora australis off Boat Harbour.
He said while the colours were muted to the naked eye, he could still see beams of light moving across the sky.
"It was the ultimate thrill," he said.
Aurora australis, or the southern lights, are triggered by geomagnetic storms that are caused by interactions of charged particles from the sun with the atmosphere of the Earth, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Ahead of Sunday's natural light show, the BOM Space Weather Forecasting Centre said a coronal mass ejection from the sun was forecast to impact the Earth that evening.
Coronial mass ejections are plasma clouds that travel at 3000 kilometres per second, resulting in a geomagnetic storm upon reaching Earth.
The aurora watch notice said anticipated geomagnetic activity was expected to produce a show on both June 1 and 2, with the chance of further activity on June 3.
"Aurora Alerts will be issued if significant geomagnetic activity occurs - these alerts provide more detailed information as to the latitudinal ranges where aurora may be visible," the bureau said in a statement,
The light show is generally visible to the naked eye near the north and south poles but will appear less bright at lower latitudes.
The BOM said nights with little cloud cover were ideal for viewing auroras and the display usually lasted one to three hours.
Aurora alerts were issued at https://www.sws.bom.gov.au/Aurora