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
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The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades as seen in Brighton beach in Melbourne, Australia.
Photograph: George Hitchens/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock
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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.
Photograph: Alexis Delelisi/AFP/Getty Images
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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.
Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock
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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.
Photograph: Sanka Vidanagama/AFP/Getty Images
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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.
Photograph: The Guardian
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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.
Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock
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The bigger the storm, the closer to the equator the lights appear. Here is the display over Fox Glacier.
Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock
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A faint glow over the Atlantic Ocean at Santa Monica beach near José Ignacio, Uruguay,
Photograph: Mariana Suárez/AFP/Getty Images
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The sun seen through with a solar filter in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Photograph: Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images
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Pink sky over Villarrica volcano in Pucón, Chile.
Photograph: Cristobal Saavedra Escobar/Reuters
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The aurora australis over Elwood, Victoria.
Photograph: Stephanie Convery/The Guardian