{"id":10273,"date":"2019-04-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-06T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flashpack.preview.uk.com\/2014\/11\/20\/aurora-australis-forget-the-northern-lights-have-you-heard-about-the-southern-lights\/"},"modified":"2023-07-04T14:53:26","modified_gmt":"2023-07-04T13:53:26","slug":"aurora-australis-forget-the-northern-lights-have-you-heard-about-the-southern-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/solo\/travel\/aurora-australis-forget-the-northern-lights-have-you-heard-about-the-southern-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora Australis: have you heard about the Southern Lights?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It might not be on anyone’s bucket list, but perhaps it should be: the Southern Lights or Aurora Australis – found in New Zealand, Australia and the Antarctic – can make claim to being just as beautiful as the Northern Lights<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Northern Hemisphere we often get bombarded at this time of year with endless photographs and articles dedicated to the Northern Lights. We get so overwhelmed with information about the Aurora Borealis\u00a0that you could be forgiven for thinking that countries\u00a0like Iceland and Canada\u00a0are the only places in the world where you can be treated to such a spectacle.<\/p>\n

But you’d be wrong.<\/p>\n

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Move over Aurora Borealis because there’s a new – sort of – kid in town; the Aurora Australis. This Southern cousin\u00a0is\u00a0most commonly seen in the night skies of Tasmania, New Zealand and, of course, the Antarctic. The best time of year to catch a glimpse of them is normally between July and August during the Southern Hemisphere’s winter as the days are shorter\u00a0and therefore darker. Because of the difference in seasons, you could actually spend the entire year watching\u00a0the aurora dance across the night sky, if you really wanted to!<\/p>\n

They say a picture speaks a thousand words and these photos\u00a0will have you dreaming of a new way to see the aurora marvel.<\/p>\n

Sophie Fazackerley<\/a>\u00a0has taken numerous amazing photographs of the Aurora Australis from her home in Hobart, Tasmania but this is by far our favourite.<\/p>\n

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This incredible image was taken by\u00a0Paul Stringer<\/a>\u00a0in the Antarctic. We’re not entirely sure what’s going on in this picture, but whatever it is, we love it.<\/p>\n

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A quick peruse through\u00a0Brendan Turriff<\/a>‘s instagram collection will have you yearning for the outdoors – and a trip to Tasmania! He has plenty of incredible Southern Lights snaps taken around Tasmania. This one shows a plane scorching its way across the night sky with the Aurora Australis lighting its way.<\/p>\n

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Taken in July 2005, this photo shows the Southern Lights glowing during\u00a0the long Antarctic night at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Taken by Chris Danals\u00a0for the National Science\u00a0Foundation, it’s a wonderful example of how the scientific community in the Antarctic get to see the amazing Aurora Australis.<\/p>\n

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This stunning image was taken by Paul Fleming<\/a> (pictured) in Tranmere, a bayside suburb of Hobart. The green glow over the hills is almost ghost-like while the purple blanket of stars above really sets the scene for something quite wonderful.<\/p>\n

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Moving away from Hobart to Evandale, this starlit wonder was taken by Adam<\/a>\u00a0at the end of August this year. You can really get a feel of pure, unadulterated isolation in this image. The milky-way is clearly visible while the distant glow of the Aurora Australis just adds to the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere.<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0Go on a Northern Lights safari on our Finland group tour<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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You can also get unbelievable views of the Aurora Australis in New Zealand, as you can see from this phenomenal picture taken in Allandale, Canterbury by Gregory Treadgold<\/a>. The kaleidoscopic colours are some of the most impressive we have seen.<\/p>\n

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Another one of\u00a0Paul Stringer<\/a>‘s incredible images. This one shows one of his colleagues posing in front of the natural phenomenon. The colours are so intense they seem to be reflecting off the snow and ice. If there was ever a reason to visit the Antarctic, this is it.<\/p>\n

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This is a marvellous example of just how far north the Southern Lights can reach, and what it can look like. It was taken in June 2013 near East Ridgley, Tasmania by Tim Cooper<\/a>. Check him out – he has lots\u00a0more amazing Southern Lights pictures!<\/p>\n

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Taken on a farm just outside Ulverstone in Tasmania by James McIver<\/a>. With just a hint of the aurora over the hills in the background,\u00a0we especially love how strong the stars appear overhead. If only you could get a view like that from one of the UK’s farms…<\/p>\n

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Taken by Life Catch Me<\/a>, an Instagram based photographer, this image shows a particularly strong aurora over Howrah Beach in Tasmania. It’s wonderful how bright it appears, even with the city lights below.<\/p>\n

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Back to New Zealand for this little beauty which shows the milky way galaxy as seen above Queenstown. Taken by Trey Ratcliff<\/a>, the composition has been carefully planned in such a way that the galaxy has lost her tilt, making for a beautiful image.<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0Top 10 Best Adventure Holidays to Book Now<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

No list of photographs of the Aurora Australis would be complete without one from NASA<\/a>. Taken from the International Space Station back in 2012, it is one of a series of photographs taken by NASA astronaut Joe Acaba.<\/p>\n

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Still want some more? Watch NASA’s amazing video of the Southern Lights taken from the International Space Station:
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\nBoth the Northern and Southern Lights are spectacular. So why not add both to your bucket list?<\/p>\n

Don’t have the funds or the time to trek all the way to Australia to see the Southern Lights? How about a weekend in Iceland instead?<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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It might not be on anyone’s bucket list, but perhaps it should be: the Southern…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":79927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9034,9029],"tags":[315,316,317,318,319,320,321,322,126,323,324],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10273"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}