aurora+perth dslr renting place

[edelweiss (Eeda)]

Hello everyone

Does aurora has exact time/period/season?

I'm going to NZ (south island) by the end of this month and wondering whether i can see any aurora there.

PS: can sony a5000/6000 can snap milky way picture?

PSS: those who're living in perth, is there any place that i can rent dslr for short period of time (12 days?)

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

Originally Posted by edelweiss

Hello everyone

Does aurora has exact time/period/season?

I'm going to NZ (south island) by the end of this month and wondering whether i can see any aurora there.

PS: can sony a5000/6000 can snap milky way picture?

PSS: those who're living in perth, is there any place that i can rent dslr for short period of time (12 days?)

Aurora's occur when a solar flare occurs and projects in the direction of the Earth. They are not exact in timing or period of recurrance however there are some prediction services that give you fairly accurate predictions up to 30 mins ahead and less accurate predictions a few days ahead.

30 minute forecast
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/au...inute-forecast

3 day forecast
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-3-day-forecast

Whether you can see it, depends on the stregth of the solar flare, it's direction and the latitude you are at. Nobody can tell you for sure where or when to be.

Best auroral displays are visible from latitudes around 70 deg in the northern hemisphere and around the equinoxes. They are stronger at solar maximum and weaker at solar minimum. Remember that at high latitudes, the days are long and the nights short or even non-existent depending on latitude

Even Invercagill is only 46 deg south. Less than the latitude of London and 25 degrees north of 70 deg south. Invercagill only has about 5 hrs of astronomical twilight by early December.

So if a really big solar storm hits while you are there, you might see it but don't hold your breath. Definitely give it a go.

Your Sony A6000 should definitely be able to capture the aurora. No need to hire.

Joe

[loc46south (Geoffrey)]

Hi - I live on Last 46 South - if the KP index is 4 or above there is a reasonable chance of seeing an Aurora - last night KP was 4.68

Cheers
Geof

[N1 (Mirko)]

Hi Edelweiss, the main thing to watch while there will be the weather. The other factors are as good as it gets in the southern Hemisphere without mounting a major expedition.

Originally Posted by OzEclipse

Even Invercagill is only 46 deg south. Less than the latitude of London and 25 degrees north of 70 deg south.

Geomagnetic latitude (the one that really matters) of southern NZ is comparable to Scotland or southern Scandinavia. Check out pics on spaceweather.com & elsewhere & compare pics from Scotland and from NZ and you'll see what I mean.

This is what a Kp3 looks like photographically, from Dunedin (taken 30 October 2013). Anything from Kp5 and up is worthwhile watching visually if you have a dark, clear sky and haven't seen many Aurorae and find travelling to 70°S a bit of an inconvenience (not to mention a waste of time in Nov. if you want to see the Southern Lights)

Kp7 and up, things get funky.
Kp9 you stand underneath them.

Caveats:
- Bz should be pointing south
- equinox time is best, as Joe says

Originally Posted by OzEclipse

Invercagill only has about 5 hrs of astronomical twilight by early December.
Joe

True, but it still gets proper darkness at midnight even at summer solstice with Sun 20.5° below horizon. Astro twilight starts at 18°.

See what the Aurora is doing in Dunners.

There is no guarantee for anything obviously. Mid latitude Auroras reward those who hang around.

[Visionoz (Bill)]

Originally Posted by edelweiss

...
PSS: those who're living in perth, is there any place that i can rent dslr for short period of time (12 days?)

Yes - Camera Electronic @ 230 Stirling Street, Perth 6000 does hire out gear at reasonable rates.

http://www.cameraelectronic.com.au

HTH
Cheers
Bill