Stunning footage of the Aurora Australis captured on camera is making the rounds on social media. Time-lapse photography is made by NASA According to the BBC, astronaut Jessica Meir is on board the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
Watch the video here: https://x.com/RT_com/status/2064599595297255843?s=20
The Aurora Australis is actually as common as the Northern Lights. They are held regularly over Antarctica. However, these lights are not as famous as the Northern Lights because relatively few people live at latitudes closer to the South Pole.
The aurora australis form near the poles because Earth’s magnetic field guides charged particles from the sun to these regions. Here, when these particles collide with the atmosphere, they create shimmering waves of color.
What are the Aurora Australis?
The Aurora Australis, scientifically known as the Aurora Australis, is a spectacular natural phenomenon of colorful, luminous light. They light up the night sky and are equivalent to the Southern Hemisphere’s Aurora Borealis.
According to Guide to Antarctica, “The Aurora Australis phenomenon occurs when charged particles from the solar wind bombard the Earth’s atmosphere and interact with Earth’s gases. These high-energy particles are emitted from the Sun and impact the Earth’s magnetic field at speeds of more than 6 million kilometers per hour.”
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The “Guide to Antarctica” states that the best place to see the aurora australis is South Georgia, one of the southernmost lands in the world. It is covered in ice most of the year.
The environment is too harsh for permanent human habitation, but cruise ships often dock here during the summer.
“When the weather warms, the island is home to about 2,000 people and basic facilities are in place. When the solar cycle is at its best, the Aurora Australis can be seen from anywhere in the southernmost tip of the Southern Hemisphere, including from the deck of a cruise ship,” says the Antarctica Guide.
There have been sightings as far north as New Zealand (South Island), southern Australia (Tasmania) and southern Argentina According to the website.
