Regional towns that boast ideal stargazing conditions are making the most of renewed tourist interest in the southern lights, after recent alluring displays of the aurora australis.
The night-time light show was spotted across Victoria and Tasmania in recent weeks and the images shared on social media.
Janine Hayes from Victorian tourism organisation Destination Gippsland says many people are seeking opportunities to get out in nature, escape the city light pollution and be part of outdoor activities such as stargazing.
“People want to go outside and especially during the pandemic times it allowed locals to discover what is actually available in their backyard,” Ms Hayes said.
Ms Hayes, who helped organise a recent stargazing night at Stockman’s Camp in Buchan in east Gippsland, said people were desperate to break away from hustle culture and the stress of life.
“People are looking for authentic experiences … certainly people are looking to get away from their screens to really understand and feel nature,” she said.
“Lying out and gazing into the heavens is just a really nice way to pass time.”
Aurora potential for the next two years
Chris Morley, president of the Latrobe Valley Astronomical Society, explains what the aurora is and why it’s so vivid at the moment.
“The aurora australis is a phenomenon where on this solar occasion the sun releases high energy particles directed towards the Earth, and they collide with oxygen and nitrogen molecules in our atmosphere,” he said.
“This collision of molecules creates the beautiful colours we see in the aurora.”
Mr Morley, who has been part of the Latrobe Valley Astronomical Society for more than 20 years, said the sun was currently at the peak of its activity cycle.
This means onlookers across the region will have a good chance of seeing the aurora in Gippsland, potentially for the next two years.
“What people in the Antarctic stations see is what we can see from here, but we’re looking at the aurora much lower in our southern horizon sky,” Mr Morley said.
“So, we need a clear view facing south and a dark sky for the aurora to be visible.
“We’ve had some really good aurora sightings in the last three to six months because of the sun’s activity cycle, whereas previously we didn’t see it as frequently because of cloud cover.”
Away from light pollution
Mr Morley has captured the aurora australis numerous times on his camera across the Latrobe Valley over the years and runs classes for beginner astronomers.
“We are fortunate in Gippsland compared with people in the city because we have so many places away from the light pollution of towns to have a clear view of the starry southern night skies,” he said.
“We can see asteroids mainly up between Mars and Jupiter. We can see galaxies, even with the naked eye, apart from our own Milky Way.
“We can see Magellanic Clouds, which house billions of stars.”
Dozens of people from Gippsland and Melbourne booked to camp the night in the picturesque town of Buchan to learn more about astronomy and catch a glimpse of the aurora.
“Through binoculars or the lens of a telescope, we see the night sky quite differently than what we do with the naked eye. There are some incredible sights to be had,” Mr Morley said.
“When you put a camera on the telescope in place of an eyepiece and leave the shutter open for over 10 seconds, sometimes minutes, you can get really amazing pictures.
“Even NASA could only have dreamed about capturing those kinds of pictures 40 years ago, and the average person can do that now.”
Growing interest
Luke Rasmussen is an astrophotographer who has been capturing the Gippsland night skies with his camera for more than 10 years and has a large following on social media.
“When I started 10 years ago, I would be able to go to a carpark at a beach facing south and there would be no-one around,” Mr Rasmussen said.
“Now, when I go to these spots to capture the aurora, there’s a lot more people around taking shots too so it’s definitely growing and will continue to grow as we head into the solar maximum.
“Being down in the southern end of Australia and looking toward the Bass Strait, we have minimal light pollution which is perfect for stargazing and aurora sighting.
“The aurora australis truly is magnificent when you see it with your own eyes.
“It starts off with a diffused kind of pinkish glow, and as the lights keep building and building you’ll see a bit of yellow and green come through.
“The beams then start reaching out into space and turns from yellow, to pink, to blue and that’s the last half an hour where you see the beautiful beams across the sky.
“It’s such a wonderfully primitive and human thing to look up at the sky and be curious about it.”