Aurora above New Zealand: Spectacular colours take over night sky

• The sky above Aotearoa lit up with vibrant colours last night, visible across the country.
• Auroras are triggered by solar activity and interact with Earth’s magnetic field, causing geomagnetic storms.
• Kiwi scientists are working on a $15 million project to prepare for a potential “solar tsunami”.

Aurora australis, you beauty.

The sky above Aotearoa lit up in spectacular fashion last night, with vibrant and dazzling colours streaming across the night.

The stunning canvas above Queenstown was captured by Herald photographer George Heard, but the breathtaking skyscape was seen across New Zealand.

The spectacular event captured above Queenstown. Photo / George Heard

Aurora are natural displays of coloured light, only visible at night. They are often observed in shades of blue, red, yellow, green and orange – which shift gently and change shape.

Auroras are triggered by activity on the sun which sends charged particles moving across space. These interact with the Earth’s magnetic field, which can lead to geomagnetic storms, which, in turn, can trigger dazzling auroras visible in our night skies.

While Earth’s magnetic field shields us from particles from such storms, they’re known to cause problems for power grids by sending extra electrical current down transmission lines – as happened when a Dunedin transformer was knocked out in 2001.

The “Carrington Event” is the most powerful geomagnetic storm in recent times, occurring in 1859. If it occurred today, it would have caused widespread damage to gas and electricity networks, and railway signals.

Photo / George Heard

The flare comes as a team of Kiwi scientists have been working with the energy sector on a $15m project aimed at preparing for a much larger event than May’s – a so-called “solar tsunami”.

Niwa says the aurora aren’t generally visible with the naked eye, but can be seen by taking a long-exposure photo.

It said this occurrence was “not as intense as May’s display”.

The night sky lit up last night. Photo / George Heard

Readers of the Herald have also been sending in their photos and videos of the natural phenomenon.

A selection of these can be found below.

Aurora by Rodri Gonzalez Fuentes. Photo / Supplied

From Lake Tekapo - Photo / Siobhan Murphy

Lake Ellesmere Photo / Natalie Crowther

Sharing the pictures of Aurora I was able to capture from Auckland last night. Photo / Rinshu Jaiswal