Southeastern Australia rejoiced with a mesmerising natural light show to start the year 2025. A vibrant aurora australis was seen by the naked eye on New Year&rsquo;s Day in Tasmania and parts of Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, and New South Wales. Streaks of green and purple southern lights were visible from 11.30 pm on Wednesday (Jan 1) until early Thursday morning.&nbsp;
Clear skies followed by a severe geomagnetic storm created a stunning light show with the people sharing pictures of their experience on social media. The aurora was so bright and strong that it was visible over Hobart, even when city lights prevented such phenomena from being clearly visible.&nbsp;
Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/auroras-on-earth-light-up-moon-surface-in-stunning-photos-captured-from-international-space-station-watch-749996" rel="dofollow">Auroras on Earth light up Moon surface in stunning photos captured from International Space Station - Watch</a>
<h2>Rare Aurora</h2>
A professor at Monash University&rsquo;s School of Physics and Astronomy, Michael Brown, said the aurora came at the peak of a 12-year cycle.
He said the past 12 months had produced &ldquo;some of the best displays of aurora... visible from Australia in living memory." &ldquo;Last night&rsquo;s display was probably one of the top five from the past year.&rdquo;
Disclaimer: WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of photos and videos shared on social media.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet publive-iframes-block publive-Twitter-block" contenteditable="false" width="600" height="400" id="PL_blockquote_block-m5ez7vxx-lx5uloki-lgqk45a6">
Aurora now Look south Huge naked eye beams <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tasmania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tasmania</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/auroraaustralis?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#auroraaustralis</a> <a href="https://t.co/VSimlJqQ4R">pic.twitter.com/VSimlJqQ4R</a>
&mdash; Vince Taskunas (@VinceTaskunas) <a href="https://twitter.com/VinceTaskunas/status/1874426899369165210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not that common an occurrence, but it&rsquo;s been happening a lot over the past year,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;The sun has a natural cycle of 11 years, roughly, and we&rsquo;re at the peak of that cycle right now, the solar maximum. And this means a lot of solar storms, a lot of solar flares, and these produce more aurora than normal," Brown added.
Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/northern-lights-spotted-in-india-aurora-borealis-visible-from-ladakh-720440" rel="dofollow">Northern Lights spotted in India! Aurora borealis illuminates Ladakh skies</a>
<h2>What caused the Aurora Australis&nbsp;</h2>
The displays were caused by a geomagnetic storm with the sun sending a series of particles towards Earth. These charged particles interacted with&nbsp;Earth&rsquo;s magnetic field, producing the bright colours seen across southern Australia overnight.&nbsp;
Although such displays are unpredictable, Prof. Brown said that more auroras can be seen even in the future, but it will be hard to believe when they will happen. They might occur in about four weeks when the sun rotates and the storm faces Earth again.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet publive-iframes-block publive-Twitter-block" contenteditable="false" width="600" height="400" id="PL_blockquote_block-m5ez8fkj-l1qzjqfl-s1gd7jle">
I&rsquo;m up late but wow the Aurora from my window has made it worth it!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tasmania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#tasmania</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/auroraaustralis?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#auroraaustralis</a> <a href="https://t.co/voQQjAZHl1">pic.twitter.com/voQQjAZHl1</a>
&mdash; Chris Bowditch (@chrisbowditch) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrisbowditch/status/1874473168351764731?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
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<h2>Future possibility&nbsp;</h2>
Following this, Brown said, &ldquo;These storms on the surface of the sun come from particular regions, and the region that produced the current burst of activity may still be active in four weeks, which means it could produce aurora in four weeks.&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s also possible that in four weeks this region will have fizzled out.&rdquo;
(With inputs from agencies)

Trending | World:  Prof. Brown said that more auroras can be seen even in the future. They might occur in about four weeks when the sun rotates and the storm faces Earth again. 

Southeastern Australia rejoiced with a mesmerising natural light show to start the year 2025. A vibrant aurora australis was seen by the naked eye on New Year’s Day in Tasmania and parts of Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, and New South Wales. Streaks of green and purple southern lights were visible from 11.30 pm on Wednesday (Jan 1) until early Thursday morning. Clear skies followed by a severe geomagnetic storm created a stunning light show with the people sharing pictures of their experience on social media. The aurora was so bright and strong that it was visible over Hobart, even when city lights prevented such phenomena from being clearly visible. Also Read: Auroras on Earth light up Moon surface in stunning photos captured from International Space Station - Watch Rare Aurora A professor at Monash University’s School of Physics and Astronomy, Michael Brown, said the aurora came at the peak of a 12-year cycle. He said the past 12 months had produced “some of the best displays of aurora... visible from Australia in living memory." “Last night’s display was probably one of the top five from the past year.” Disclaimer: WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of photos and videos shared on social media. Aurora now Look south Huge naked eye beams #Tasmania #auroraaustralis pic.twitter.com/VSimlJqQ4R — Vince Taskunas (@VinceTaskunas) January 1, 2025 “It’s not that common an occurrence, but it’s been happening a lot over the past year,” he said. “The sun has a natural cycle of 11 years, roughly, and we’re at the peak of that cycle right now, the solar maximum. And this means a lot of solar storms, a lot of solar flares, and these produce more aurora than normal," Brown added. Also Read: Northern Lights spotted in India! Aurora borealis illuminates Ladakh skies What caused the Aurora Australis The displays were caused by a geomagnetic storm with the sun sending a series of particles towards Earth. These charged particles interacted with Earth’s magnetic field, producing the bright colours seen across southern Australia overnight. Although such displays are unpredictable, Prof. Brown said that more auroras can be seen even in the future, but it will be hard to believe when they will happen. They might occur in about four weeks when the sun rotates and the storm faces Earth again. I’m up late but wow the Aurora from my window has made it worth it!#tasmania #auroraaustralis pic.twitter.com/voQQjAZHl1 — Chris Bowditch (@chrisbowditch) January 1, 2025 Also Read: Chaos on Sun dazzles Mars with invisible Auroras Future possibility Following this, Brown said, “These storms on the surface of the sun come from particular regions, and the region that produced the current burst of activity may still be active in four weeks, which means it could produce aurora in four weeks.“But it’s also possible that in four weeks this region will have fizzled out.” (With inputs from agencies)

Southeast Australia welcomes 2025 with a stunning Aurora Australis

'Absolutely Biblical': Stunning auroras paint the skies as 'extreme' solar storm hits Earth

Two pilots did the unthinkable for fliers when they made a 360-degree turn to let the passengers catch a stunning glimpse of the auroras, or northern lights. In a rare display, the skies above UK lit up with the northern lights this time round. An EasyJet pilot, whose plane was travelling from Iceland to Manchester, saw the aurora borealis and looped the plane around to let everyone on board catch a glimpse of the magnificent spectacle in the sky.

A Finnair flight from Kuusamo to Helsinki also made a similar small loop just so that the passengers could watch the aurora borealis. Flight tracking sites show both planes made the mid-flight loops. The pilot even dimmed the lights of the cabin for a better view.

“Many thanks to the Captain of Finnair flight AY488 from KAO to HEL tonight for making an unscheduled 360 up in the air so all passengers can enjoy the magic,” Kirsi Komi tweeted Sunday.

Auroras are hard to hunt for, even in Iceland and Finland where they normally occur, as there is no guarantee that you will be able to see them despite spending on travel tickets and hotels. But the passengers of these flights got lucky as the aurora presented itself to them while on a plane.&nbsp;

The captain “was able to perform a controlled manoeuvre in order to allow passengers to witness an amazing display from the air of one of nature’s greatest sights, the Aurora Borealis,” EasyJet said in a statement.

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Many thanks to the Captain of Finnair flight AY488 from KAO to HEL tonight for making an unscheduled 360 up in the air so all passengers can enjoy the magic <a href="https://twitter.com/Finnair?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Finnair</a> <a href="https://t.co/5QujW4nMFZ">pic.twitter.com/5QujW4nMFZ</a>
— Kirsi Komi 🇺🇦 (@KomiKirsi) <a href="https://twitter.com/KomiKirsi/status/1629959923973992449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2023</a></blockquote>
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An EasyJet passenger Adam Groves, of Lymm, Cheshire, told BBC that he had spend four nights in Iceland, but failed to hunt the aurora.

But his trip, during which he also got engaged, could not have ended in a better manner. The "incredible" sight "topped off" his four-night trip, he said.&nbsp;

Adam Groves thanked the EasyJet pilot in a tweet “who did a 360 fly by mid flight to make sure all passengers could see the incredible Northern Lights.” The airline, in turn, said it was "delighted" to have played host to the watching.&nbsp;

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Big thanks to the <a href="https://twitter.com/easyJet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@easyJet</a> pilot of EZY1806 from Reykjavik to Manchester who did a 360 fly by mid flight to make sure all passengers could see the incredible Northern Lights 🤩 <a href="https://t.co/A4CHi9Hqgo">pic.twitter.com/A4CHi9Hqgo</a>
— Adam Groves (@APTGroves) <a href="https://twitter.com/APTGroves/status/1630338032732651520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasa-astronauts-stunning-image-of-auroras-from-space-is-nothing-like-anything-you-have-ever-seen-566987">NASA astronaut's stunning image of auroras from space is nothing like anything you have ever seen</a>

 
Where to see aurora borealis?

While quaint little towns in Norway, Finland and Sweden are mostly where people can see the best view of the aurora borealis from, the northers lights this time dazzled people in the UK as well.&nbsp;

People in the UK shared pictures of the aurora from Scotland, northern Wales, Ireland and southern England. The sighting was even reported from the iconic Stonehenge monument.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

&nbsp;

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Two pilots did the unthinkable for fliers when they made a 360-degree turn to let the passengers catch a stunning glimpse of the auroras, or northern lights. In a rare display, the skies above UK lit up with the northern lights this time round.

Two pilots did the unthinkable for fliers when they made a 360-degree turn to let the passengers catch a stunning glimpse of the auroras, or northern lights. In a rare display, the skies above UK lit up with the northern lights this time round. An EasyJet pilot, whose plane was travelling from Iceland to Manchester, saw the aurora borealis and looped the plane around to let everyone on board catch a glimpse of the magnificent spectacle in the sky. A Finnair flight from Kuusamo to Helsinki also made a similar small loop just so that the passengers could watch the aurora borealis. Flight tracking sites show both planes made the mid-flight loops. The pilot even dimmed the lights of the cabin for a better view. “Many thanks to the Captain of Finnair flight AY488 from KAO to HEL tonight for making an unscheduled 360 up in the air so all passengers can enjoy the magic,” Kirsi Komi tweeted Sunday. Auroras are hard to hunt for, even in Iceland and Finland where they normally occur, as there is no guarantee that you will be able to see them despite spending on travel tickets and hotels. But the passengers of these flights got lucky as the aurora presented itself to them while on a plane. The captain “was able to perform a controlled manoeuvre in order to allow passengers to witness an amazing display from the air of one of nature’s greatest sights, the Aurora Borealis,” EasyJet said in a statement. Many thanks to the Captain of Finnair flight AY488 from KAO to HEL tonight for making an unscheduled 360 up in the air so all passengers can enjoy the magic @Finnair pic.twitter.com/5QujW4nMFZ — Kirsi Komi 🇺🇦 (@KomiKirsi) February 26, 2023 × An EasyJet passenger Adam Groves, of Lymm, Cheshire, told BBC that he had spend four nights in Iceland, but failed to hunt the aurora. But his trip, during which he also got engaged, could not have ended in a better manner. The "incredible" sight "topped off" his four-night trip, he said. Adam Groves thanked the EasyJet pilot in a tweet “who did a 360 fly by mid flight to make sure all passengers could see the incredible Northern Lights.” The airline, in turn, said it was "delighted" to have played host to the watching. Big thanks to the @easyJet pilot of EZY1806 from Reykjavik to Manchester who did a 360 fly by mid flight to make sure all passengers could see the incredible Northern Lights 🤩 pic.twitter.com/A4CHi9Hqgo — Adam Groves (@APTGroves) February 27, 2023 × Also Read | NASA astronaut's stunning image of auroras from space is nothing like anything you have ever seen Where to see aurora borealis? While quaint little towns in Norway, Finland and Sweden are mostly where people can see the best view of the aurora borealis from, the northers lights this time dazzled people in the UK as well. People in the UK shared pictures of the aurora from Scotland, northern Wales, Ireland and southern England. The sighting was even reported from the iconic Stonehenge monument. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Auroras from plane: Two pilots make unscheduled 360-degree turns to catch rare spectacle