Top Travel Experiences – Seeing an Aurora

If you’re familiar with the seven natural wonders of the world, you’ll know that among this list is the aurora borealis based in the northern arctic circle or the less common aurora australis for the folks down south.  Natures own dancing light show which lights up the night sky with beams of light among a colourful backdrop, often seen as a green ray of light raising up from the horizon. Aurora displays are absolutely breathtaking and mesmerising to watch. Not easily visible with the naked eye, but certainly a photographers dream.

Aurora Australis

Aurora Australis over The Hazards, Coles Bay, Tasmania.

Triggered by solar changes outside the earths atmosphere, auroras are unpredictable. While there are websites and apps you can check for possible sightings at certain times of the year (www.spaceweather.com) there are no guarantees with nature. Nonetheless I have always been hopeful to see this.

So you’ll understand my luck and absolute excitement when I got to see an aurora by chance during a photography workshop in Tasmania. One of our guides, Luke, who is an aurora enthusiast, received an alert indicating that a sighting might be possible that evening. With great enthusiasm among the group, our friendly and accommodating photography tour guides agreed we stay out later after our sunset shoot in Coles Bay, and so we waited with bated breath as the night set in. It was just as well because we were rewarded with a spectacular light display after the clouds moved on. The colours we captured in the sky changed from red, purple and pink with a lime green shimmer low along the horizon. We could see the moving beams of light with the naked eye as if someone was pointing a large torch from the mountain range into the sky.  Just as breathtaking were the sheer number of stars we could see in the darkness alongside the cluster of the milky way. Words cannot even begin to describe how incredible an experience this was, so hopefully these photos do.

Aurora Australis and the Milky Way over Coles Bay, Tasmania.

The photography workshop I was on during this special time was the 7 day Tasmanian Experience Photography Tour run by Michael Snedic at Trekabout Photography Workshops and Luke O’Brien Photography. While aurora displays are unpredictable, heightened activity in the last couple of years as led to a few recent sightings. If you love night photography then this is something you’ll definitely want to experience for yourself, luck permitting.

Various tours featuring the northern lights are also offered in the months around Sep/Oct and Mar/Apr in countries such as Iceland, Sweden, Finland and Alaska to name a few. I know I’m hoping to go on one of these tours one day too.

 

Good luck with your aurora hunting!

Georgia