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RNZ News
3 days ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Dazzling aurora scenes delight as strong displays seen from many places
Photographers braved the cold on Sunday night to capture colourful aurora images, with a bright active display visible even from some places in the North Island. Photo: Supplied/ Grant Birley If you missed out on the aurora light show that lit up southern lights on Sunday night, you might have another chance, as night falls on King's Birthday Monday. Aurora Australis, the colourful natural phenomenon also called the southern lights, put on a strong display visible in the night sky across many parts of New Zealand on Sunday night, prompting photographers to set up their tripods during the largely cloudless but cold night, to capture the lights. Astronomer and Otago Museum director, Dr Ian Griffin, told RNZ the spectacular display was unusual as it was seen further north than usual. "Last night's clear skies across the country gave everybody a really good chance to see what I think is one of the greatest shows on earth." "Normally, displays like this you can see most easily from southern New Zealand, but my understanding is a lot of people in the North Island last night got a good show, too," Griffin said. Aurora is the result of material being ejected from the sun toward Earth entering our atmosphere, where it reacts with particles at the Earth's geomagnetic poles. This creates the eerie glowing lights that can be seen in the sky. Aurora fans are hopeful the show might still be visible after dark on King's Birthday Monday, too. Griffin said this latest burst of aurora appeared after a strong explosion on the sun: "It was quite a strong explosion that threw a whole bunch of material towards the earth." "Fingers crossed it might persist until darkness tonight [Monday], and we might get another evening as well." Aurora are best seen using cameras lenses that are more sensitive than our eyes, but sometimes - like last night - are strong enough to be seen with the naked eye too. Griffin advised those hoping to get a glimpse of the lights to go to a dark spot, away from manmade lights and towns, with a good view of the stars. He said New Zealanders were seeing more auroras than normal at the moment. "We're quite a long way from the really active area of the aurora," Griffin said. "And it's only at times near solar maximum that we get these displays like we had last night, when they were overhead." Grant Birley took these photos of the aurora, from Lake Ellesmere, on Sunday night. Photo: Supplied/ Grant Birley And the prospects for King's Birthday Monday were looking hopeful. Forecasters at the US government's Space Weather Prediction Centre [ said that between 3pm and 6pm NZT on Monday global magnetic conditions - referred to as Kp - could reach as high was nearly 8Kp, and could remain above 6Kp until midnight NZT (midday UTC). At levels of 6Kp and above, aurora move much further across the globe than just the North and South Poles where they are more usually confined to, and can "become quite bright and active", the agency said . At 8Kp, that intensifies and even more bright, and more places may be able to see them: "These are the events that create the best aurora and the extended auroral oval will be observable by the most people," they said. Conditions are promising for auroras for the next six to 12 months, Dr Griffin said, because the sun's magnetic activity is in the most active phase of its 11-year cycle. A group with a bonfire are captured at Wainuiomata coast, on Sunday night, in front of the aurora. Photo: Supplied/ Dan Bailey Winter offers advantages for aurora spotters because the night is dark for longer. But New Zealand has a good geographic position when it comes to aurora spotting, and it gives us good opportunities through the rest of the year too, Griffin said. "One of the coolest thing about New Zealand is it's pretty much the only place in the world where you can watch an aurora in the middle of summer, wearing shorts and jandals." Australia & New Zealand are getting some nice aurora right now, here's the view from Queenstown, NZ! We are currently at G2 storm level (we did hit Hp30=8 earlier). Solar wind speed is currently very high (900+ km/s), but Bt and Bz are not very favourable. We are still in the… On Sunday night some Australian aurora fans also got a glimpse of the lights, which are rarely spotted across the ditch. ABC reported spotters as far north as Tamworth north of Sydney, in New South Wales had seen the lights. Photographers usually use special astrophotography settings on their cameras to capture aurora, but Sunday's display was also visible to the naked eye, and would have looked closer to this. Photo: Supplied/ Dan Bailey Cressida Toorenburg told the ABC she had seen the natural light show from East Devonport, in Tasmania, after the clouds cleared away. "We sat for half an hour in the hope that the clouds would move away and then wow," she said. "There was Lady Aurora! It was breathtaking - you could see her with the naked eye, but much bigger and brighter through the screen on my phone." Toorenburg said she has lived in the area for seven years and never seen an aurora as dazzling. "The colours were so beautiful and vibrant," she said. From Lake Ellesmere on Sunday. Photo: Supplied/ Grant Birley - RNZ/ ABC Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
The Sun, a pinhole, and a hefty price tag
Image: Ian Griffin Very keen-eyed visitors to the recent Cleveland National Art Awards show in Dunedin might have noticed a small, unassuming 4-by-5-inch photograph tucked away on a gallery wall — entry number 71. A smudgy image showing a figure-eight shape hovering above some blurry trees. Nothing much to look at, really. But perhaps curious, they flipped through the catalogue and promptly fell over when they saw the outrageous price. Let me explain. The image in question is an analemma, a picture showing the sun's position at the same time each day for a year. Due to Earth's tilted axis and its not-so-circular orbit, the sun doesn't return to the same spot in the sky each day — unless you count weekends, when it's always directly behind clouds. Instead, it traces a lovely elongated figure eight. To capture this celestial doodle, I mounted a pinhole camera in my office window. Every day at 12.30 in winter and 1.30 in summer (it's daylight saving's fault), a tiny dot of sunlight etched itself onto a glass photographic plate. For a whole year. No lens. No electronics. Just physics and patience. After 12 months, having carefully developed the precious image, I proudly entered what I believe to be the first ever complete southern hemisphere photographic analemma into a prestigious astronomy photography competition. It didn't even get selected for consideration — though a bloke who caught the Moon rising behind a lighthouse won third prize. Fair enough, it was a lovely lighthouse. So, I entered it in the Cleveland Art Awards. To my utter astonishment, it got in. Art judges apparently have better taste than astrophotography ones. Over several darkroom sessions (involving much muttering and chemical spills), I produced the final print. But there was a catch: just before entering, I realised that all entries had to be for sale. And I didn't want to sell it. Did I mention this image took an entire year of my life to create? Hence the outrageous price. Is this science or art? As Einstein said, "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious". I say it's both. Though my camera was nudged before the year was up — so I'll have to start over. Such is the life of a pinhole perfectionist.
Otago Daily Times
03-05-2025
- Climate
- Otago Daily Times
Veils across the light
Photo: Ian Griffin The move to Middlemarch has been great for skywatching. I've been out almost every night since Easter, chasing stars. The nights are clear, dark, and cold — perfect at first. But after midnight, something always creeps in. It starts with a thin breath across the paddocks. By 2am, the stars have vanished and I'm standing alone in a blank world. At first, I thought it was mist. Or maybe it was fog? My tired brain whimsically dubbed it "mog" at that hour. One night, halfway between Easter and Anzac Day, an aurora appeared in the sky. Soft, low curtains of light moved like slow breaths across the southern horizon. I stood by the telescope, watching. In the distance, the trees seemed to shift. In the thickening mist — or fog — they appeared to swell and lean closer, like weary old ghosts. If you stared too long, you'd swear they were walking towards you. The aurora's light shimmered through the haze, making everything seem unreal. It was beautiful and strange, a little unsettling — but in a good way. Later, once I was indoors thawing out, I looked it up. It turns out the difference between mist and fog is simple: it all comes down to visibility. If you can see more than 1km, it's mist. If you can see less than 1km, it's fog. Simple enough. You're never too old to learn something new, even if it's something you probably should have known decades ago. That night, I think it was fog — a thick fog, curling around fence posts and soaking my jacket. My telescopes and cameras were dew-coated in minutes. The stars faded away along with the aurora, leaving only a soft glow, like the memory of a dream. Luckily, one of my cameras captured the scene so it was not lost forever. Middlemarch is going to be a great place to watch the sky, even if some nights the mog wins.
Otago Daily Times
24-04-2025
- Science
- Otago Daily Times
‘Celestial smile' to greet very early risers
Otago Museum Director, Dr Ian Griffin. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH If you get up at 4.56am tomorrow, go outside, do a handstand and turn to the east, neighbours might think you are a hardcore fitness guru. Even better, you will also get to see a rare cosmic event unfold as Venus, Saturn and a crescent moon align to create a "celestial sad face" in the pre-dawn sky. That should cheer you up. Dunedin astronomer and Tūhura Otago Museum director Dr Ian Griffin said the rare triple conjunction would have Venus and Saturn acting as the eyes, while the crescent moon would form the mouth. "The close passage of the waning crescent moon through this area of the sky should bring joy to all except the most miserable stargazers." And if it did not amuse you, he said you could travel to the northern hemisphere where Venus and Saturn would be above the crescent moon, creating a "celestial smile". Either way, it would be an "elegant planetary gathering", Dr Griffin said. "The moon's slender crescent will be illuminated by the Sun, and you'll also notice its darkened portion glowing faintly — this phenomenon is called 'earthshine', which is the gentle light from our planet reflecting off the moon's night side. "The planetary lineup and the ghostly glow of the moon promise a memorable and photogenic start to the day." To get the best view, find a spot with a clear eastern horizon and minimal light pollution. Venus and Saturn will be visible to the naked eye, but binoculars or a telescope will offer a more detailed look at the crescent moon. For those with a perfect view of the horizon, Mercury would also make a brief appearance below the celestial trio, he said.
