Aurora australis a Sunday no-show, but bright lights could return this year

Stargazers flocked to bayside Melbourne and coastal Victoria overnight hoping to enjoy aurora australis, but sadly, there was no repeat show of Saturday’s extraordinary light show.

However, Professor Andrew Cole, who teaches physics at the University of Tasmania, said there could be more chances to spy the southern lights later this year as the sun was at its most active phase in a decade.

“You can never actually say the moment at which the aurora is going to stop and start, but it’s more likely [to happen] now than it has been in quite some time,” he said. “It could maintain its activity for the rest of this year … this is a roughly a ‘once every couple of decades’ kind of event.”

Some residents of the Mornington Peninsula and bayside Melbourne reported crowds that exceeded those on New Year’s Eve. Crowds also gathered at Point Ormand in Altona around midnight trying to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon but were disappointed. The lights are best viewed in clear skies, away from city lights.

Stunning pink and green hues were seen dancing through the sky across Tasmania, outback Western Australia, and along coastal regions of Victoria and South Australia on Saturday night. The southern lights are usually only visible in Tasmania or Victoria’s far south.

The southern lights were even visible in the cities of Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth on Saturday, although light pollution made the aurora less vibrant. Heavy cloud and rainfall hampered views in Sydney and Canberra.

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