doesitringtrue

Hi,
Not sure if the spelling is correct.
Will be in NZ Jan. 09 for my 50th birthday! What are the changes of seeing Aurora Austrailiaus (Southern Lights)? If possible, any further north than Invercargill?
Thanks, Terri aka Elfia ;-)

Neil_Oz

I don't know the answer, sorry, but if you want to do some Googling it's "Aurora Australis".

LizzyF

You won't see them in NZ and you won't see them particularly in January because that is the Southern Hemisphere's summer when Antarctica has 24 hours sunshine. Here is the website where you can get all the information on the lights. The lights are only seen in Polar regions.

vbca

We do see the Aurora in southern NZ, but very rarely. I think it's only during a very intense solar storm. I'm not sure what time of year it occurs. I guess it could be any time, depending on the solar activity, but as LizzF says, it will only be visible in Antarctica in winter. In NZ we do get about 5 hours of darkness in summer, but I'm usually in bed and not gazing into the sky so I'm not likely to notice.
It's sufficiently rare that it make headlines in the local papers, so the chance of you being there at the right time is fairly remote.

LizzyF

Sorry I forgot to give you the web site
http://www.antarcticconnection.com/a...r/aurora.shtml

mlgb

I was in Dunedin in Dec 06 and the Southern Lights were unexpectedly visible. However I only found out about it by reading the paper the next day. Talk about disappointment!

doesitringtrue

Hi All,
Thank you so much for your information and the website!

Just a "shot in the dark" by asking.

Terri