All eyes on New Zealand’s most spectacular aurora in decades

Sharing is caring!

Sooooooo, about last night. Holy crap, guys! We just experienced the most incredible aurora display I’ve ever seen in New Zealand. Did you manage to take it in wherever you were in the world?

Frost was already starting to settle on the cars parked along my street in Lake Hāwea last night when I bundled up to head out and look for the Southern Lights. It only gets this level of bone cold when the skies are perfectly clear around Central Otago. White walker weather that sometimes heralds a rare hoarfrost. Remember, we’re going into winter down here in New Zealand.

I really struggled with summing up the energy to go out for some astrophotography. With the super short days at the moment combined with a vicious polar front ripping through, my couch, blanket, and sheepskin hot water bottle were all particularly inviting. And I was already in my pajamas. But then I did the old guilt trip. I’m lucky to live where I am, so far south in New Zealand and away from city lights. I needed to get my ass up and moving. 

In my driveway, even with bright street lights overhead, I could already see the skies glowing. Oh shit, this was going to be good!

For ten years, I’ve chased the Southern Lights in New Zealand, obsessed with their magic. Growing up on the urban east coast of the US, we never saw clear skies like we do at 44°S, population: a handful.

I can still remember the first time I saw the galactic core of the Milky Way here, and I was floored. And when I first saw the aurora australis illuminate the skies above Lake Wānaka for the first time in 2015? My mind was blown. And second, to last night, it was the best display I’d ever seen here. The only difference is about $10,000 in camera equipment and a hell of a lot more experience on my part.

Inspired by stories like His Dark Materials (which prompted my first journey to Svalbard and a lifelong love for polar places), I’ve long been obsessed with our night skies. Even with all our knowledge today, auroras still remain enigmas, captivating just about everyone. Portal to another world? Who knows.

Beam me up; I’m tired of it here.

Auroras in the southern hemisphere are different from those in the northern hemisphere in a few key ways, especially in New Zealand. When I’ve seen the Northern Lights dance, I was at much higher latitudes than their southern counterparts. I’m talking Arctic Circle latitudes above 66° N. Bright, colorful, and dramatic, they dance in every direction and overhead.

Now keep in mind that the opposite, 66° S, is basically Antarctica, which means there are only like five people who get to see the aurora there in winter. Remember, at these far-flung latitudes, there aren’t a lot of dark hours in the summer when tourists visit. Auroras happen all the time, but we can only see them in the dark.

New Zealand only really gets down to 47° S, which means that we see the aurora further away in the distance on the southern horizon, not over our heads. It’s much fainter here; usually, sometimes, we can see a glow or beams of soft light on a good showing with the naked eye, but mostly, you need a camera with a long shutter speed to capture the full colors here. 

Except on Saturday night when the sky was lit up like a Christmas tree, and you could see EVERYTHING in EVERY direction. Even our phones captured amazing photos and videos because it was so bright. 

I’ve been getting so many questions about how to see and/or photograph the aurora that it really warrants its own post. I’ll get to it eventually, haha. And remember, asking when to see an aurora is like asking when there will be a rainbow. I can’t tell you; it depends on the forecasts, weather, locations, light pollution, etc.

But in the meantime, here are my flash tips and things to know for trying to see it now:

1.  You need it to be as dark as possible to see them, usually an hour or so after sunset when the skies have gone fully dark. You also need to get away from as much light pollution as possible, so avoid cities and bright lights. Full moons are bright and can hamper viewing, too. Clouds as well, obviously
2.  Be mindful of others out – keep your own lights to a minimum so your eyes can adjust to the dark, like turn off your car headlights as soon as you arrive at a spot and keep your phone or torches to a minimum and turn off quickly
3.  The further south you are, the better chance you have of seeing the New Zealand aurora. Usually, you need to be looking southward to see them, too – use the compass app on your phone 
4.  Try looking in advance for a good viewing spot. If mountains directly south of you might be in the way, climb them or move further away from them so they don’t block the southern horizon
5.  Join some of the FB groups for aurora forecasting where you live for tips and predictions – read through many posts to learn
6.  But don’t ask questions like, “Where can I see the aurora in Auckland?” Take some initiative and reread steps one through five to figure out a location that works for you (I get it, but it’s also a total pet peeve of mine across all manners of things – try and do a little work yourself first)
7.  You’ll need a tripod to capture the aurora on a camera, but new phones now are pretty good at capturing at night skies. On iPhones you can swipe up to change the shutter speed to slow it down to capture the skies. It’ll only catch the aurora well if it’s pretty bright
8.  With a camera, you want to use your widest lens possible with the lowest aperture possible. I shoot with a 16-35mm f/2.8 lens. Pick a star and manually focus your lens on it. I crank my ISO super high and use a few seconds of shutter speed to figure out my framing, and then I start to play. Saturday’s aurora was so bright I was shooting on one-second exposures IYKYK
9. Be patient. Aurora showings come and go, burn brighter and soften, dance around and move. I usually spend hours watching them; it’s always changing. Dress warm and bring chocolate 
10.  Sit back, put your phone and camera away, and soak it in. Save it for the memory book

My favorite part of this most recent aurora was that so many people around the world got to see it. How incredible is that? We’re facing some fairly shitty times, and being united by our beautiful planet if only for a night, was pretty special.

I spent hours watching the skies dance, stars twinkling, and Elon Musk’s satellites occasionally popping by to say hello. It was the best aurora I’ve ever seen in New Zealand. This was the first time I saw the lights move around overhead here and in every direction, beyond just southward.

How special. How memorable. It was just the kind of experience I deeply craved to get excited about photography again.

How was the aurora in your part of the world? Share!