Chasing Aurora

On our last day in Mclarenvale a large solar storm was forecast to result in an Auroroa Australis of proportions that could be seen from the Australian mainland and, possibly, as far north as Adelaide.  Armed with an absolute lack of knowledge about astrophotography I downloaded an Aurora app and headed off to Maslins Beach lookout to have a shot (ha ha) at getting a shot of the Aurora.  Roger, not wanting to stand around in the dark and cold, stayed home with the dog.

All ready for Auroral action.  My app informed me that the best auroras happened from 09:30 in the morning and were not visible due to daylight.

Waiting for the daylight to take itself off to the other side of the world.  A pretty crescent moon came out to play, but no-one was interested in it so it headed off to the other side of the world as well.

 A small group of random photographers stood on Maslins Beach lookout with me, watching the sun set.  A lady came along on an electric bike and took photos of the sunset before realising we were all looking south and ignoring said sunset.

"What's the occasion?" 

"The Aurora Australis is meant to show up."

"Oh!" She said.  "I didn't know that!  I'll stick around to see what happens."

Together we looked out into the darkness over the Fleurieu Peninsula.  Four lights flicked on along the esplanade above Port Willunga and all the photographers dutifully grizzled about light pollution.  Periodically, I took a photo of the night and my new friend examined it carefully with me.  "Is that a hint of colour?" she asked.

It was! Just a tinge of red/purple/green in the sky. 

 

The Aurora showed up right on cue.  The photographers got excited, straining to see with the naked eye what the cameras picked up and clicking madly with any available camera. People out walking their dogs in blissful ignorance got sucked into the excitement as the aurora became visible to the naked eye.  Dogs who had expected to go quickly home for dinner and a cosy couch were bitterly disappointed.

No need to strain the eyes: the lights got stronger.

Not only did the aurora show up, but it showed up in style with sheets of pink, red, purple shimmering across the sky while green glowed over the hills. 

Starlink made a cameo appearance, trundling its little caterpillar of lights across the Aurora.

Back in McLarenvale Roger went up the hill behind the house and watched with a small group of enthralled adults and a cohort of decidedly underwhelmed children who, from the breathless excitement of their parents, had probably expected something akin to fireworks.

From Mclarenvale hill.

 

The following day we finished off our house sit in McLarenvale, said goodbye to the dog, and took ourselves off to a cabin at Moana Beach. My freshly-downloaded Aurora app told me that another show was unlikely but nevertheless the Moana beach front was crammed with everyone who had missed last night's event and had optimistically decided that Mother Nature was sure to put on a re-do just for them.  "We need to go right down the dark end of the beach," a mother lectured her children over fish and chips.  "All the way to Silver Sands where it's dark."  I thought of telling her that it would probably be a wasted effort, but instead I quietly collected my takeaway and went back to our cabin for a warm night in.  I'm glad I did too.  My app informed me that the Aurora showed up briefly very early in the morning, long after the families had taken their cold and disgruntled children home to bed and not in any way as spectacular as last night.

Off we went to Clayton Bay, happy to have witnessed an Aurora of one-in-a-lifetime proportions.

Sunset over Moana beach.