{"id":3705,"date":"2024-05-12T14:22:28","date_gmt":"2024-05-12T06:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meowtainpeople.com\/?p=3705"},"modified":"2024-05-12T14:32:59","modified_gmt":"2024-05-12T06:32:59","slug":"aurora-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meowtainpeople.com\/zh\/aurora-new-zealand\/","title":{"rendered":"Where To See Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) In New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Seeing the aurora, the natural lightshow of the universe, is often in the bucket list of travelers all around the world. When people talk about aurora, they usually think about Nordic countries such as the famous aurora watching place, Iceland. However, many are not aware that aurora occurs in the Southern hemisphere too. These Southern lights displays are regularly observed in far South places such as Southern New Zealand, Tasmania, and Patagonia.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) VS Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) - What Are The Differences?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\r\n \"Northern\r\n<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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photo licensed via Envato<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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VS<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\r\n \"Southern\r\n<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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photo by jasongillman (from Pixabay)<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Other than one occurring in the Northern hemisphere and the other in the Southern hemisphere, they also differ in appearances (because of the viewing location, they actually look the same if you see them from the same angle), as you can see in the photos above. Northern lights tend to have those wavy rows of lights (if you are watching almost directly under it, due to the Earth\u2019s tilt angle and your far north location). Southern lights are more commonly seen as a wall of light curtains \/ pillars due to the angle and distance: eg. Observers in New Zealand are looking at the side angle of the aurora (unless you are in Antarctica, right under the Southern lights, then you would see the wavy rows of lights).<\/span><\/p>

As for the colors, Northern lights tend to be predominantly in green and white, while Southern lights display more colorful hues, predominantly green and pink. This is also due to the angle where the aurora is seen by the observer. The colors are the result of the reactions of different dominant atoms in Earth\u2019s atmosphere when they are hit by solar wind\u2019s electrons. One thing that these auroras share in common, is that Northern and Southern lights activities occur at the same time, as the earth\u2019s north and south magnetic fields are connected together (conditions and level may vary).<\/span><\/p>

In other words, you look up at Northern lights and see it from the bottom, thanks to the land being right under it; In the southern hemisphere, the land is further away from the pole \/ aurora so you look at the Southern lights \u2018across the ocean\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Best Time To See Aurora<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Seasons<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Aurora can happen anytime. It does not happen more in the winter than during the summer. The reason winter months are seen as the best time to watch aurora, is due to the longer dark hours. Aurora can happen during the day, but you can\u2019t see it with the sun\u2019s out. In short, the winter months give you more dark hours, increasing the chances of aurora happening during the dark. This doesn\u2019t mean you should stop looking out for aurora in the summer. If you get an aurora alert at night, go for it!<\/span><\/p>

Months<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Historically, auroras appeared more in the months of March-April and September-October. Records show that geomagnetic disturbances are more likely in spring and fall then winter and summer. This is due to the Russell-McPherron Effect, where cracks tend to form in Earth\u2019s magnetosphere\u00a0 during weeks around equinoxes (when the Earth\u2019s equator is facing directly to the Sun), allowing solar wind to spark the aurora lights.<\/span><\/p>

Days<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Talking about the dark sky, the moonlight is a huge factor on whether you can see the aurora or not. A full moon can easily drown out most lights from the aurora and the galaxies, making moonless nights the favorite night outs for astronomy photographers. However, even on the full moon night, you might still get hours of complete dark sky, since the moon rises and sets at a different time each day.<\/span><\/p>

Hours<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

The best hours to see the aurora are obviously during the darkest hours. Astronomical twilight is when the sun is gone (below the horizon) but some of its lights are being scattered and bounced back to an observer on the surface. If you take a nighttime photograph during this twilight zone, the photo might show colorful lights, which many people have often mistaken as aurora (it is actually the light from the hidden sun). Thus, the darkest hours (without considering the moon) are after the evening astronomical twilight ends, and before the morning astronomical twilight begins.<\/span><\/p>

Thanks to a passion project, \u2018<\/span>Outside, Looking Up<\/span><\/a>\u2019, developed by Oli Gibbs, we can easily know the exact time of sunset, moonrise, start\/end of darkest hours and more useful info in our location, when we plan for our aurora chasing, or even night sky photography trips!<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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