Southern lights ignite the sky in geomagnetic glory – in pictures

Aurora australis has proven to be the weekend’s must-see event, offering the most ‘extreme’ celestial display in two decades. While people flocked to viewing spots from Tasmania to Argentina to glimpse the out-of-this-world geomagnetic event, warnings came of some very real-world repercussions

Main image: People watch the aurora australis, also known as the southern lights, in Rolleston on the outskirts of Christchurch on Saturday. Photograph: Sanka Vidanagama/AFP/Getty Images

  • The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades as seen in Brighton beach in Melbourne, Australia.
    The Aurora Australis illuminates the sky from Brighton beach in Melbourne

  • Lights were visible across Tasmania and South Australia on Saturday morning, along with other parts of the southern hemisphere. Here the glow on the horizon is seen from Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
    The glow on the horizon as seen from Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

  • The lights over Fox Glacier on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island. The geomagnetic storm threatens possible disruptions to satellites and power grid.
    Lights over Fox Glacier on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island

  • Aurora Australis glows on the horizon over the waters of Lake Ellesmere, near Christchurch. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology space weather forecasting centre says the storm’s effects reached Earth on Friday night.
    Aurora Australis glows on the horizon over the waters of Lake Ellesmere, near Christchurch

  • The view from Elwood in Melbourne. The solar storm began on Wednesday and Thursday when four coronal mass ejections – highly charged plasma – erupted from the sun and streamed into space.
    Aurora australis as seen from Elwood, Victoria

  • When those charged particles, known as the solar wind, hit the Earth’s magnetic field, they create the stunning visual displays known as auroras, as seen here in Wellington, New Zealand.
    The view over Wellington

  • The bigger the storm, the closer to the equator the lights appear. Here is the display over Fox Glacier.
    The bigger the storm, the closer to the equator the lights – normally only visible closer to Earth’s poles – appear. The Southern Lights, seen from Fox Glacier on the west coast of the South Island, New Zealand.

  • A faint glow over the Atlantic Ocean at Santa Monica beach near José Ignacio, Uruguay,
    A faint glow over the Atlantic Ocean at Santa Monica beach near José Ignacio, Uruguay

  • The sun seen through with a solar filter in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
    The sun seen through with a solar filter in Buenos Aires, Argentina

  • Pink sky over Villarrica volcano in Pucón, Chile.
    Pink sky over Villarrica volcano in Pucón, Chile

  • The aurora australis over Elwood, Victoria.
    The aurora australis over Elwood, Victoria
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