Southern Aurora

[REVEREND]

Hi all. Is it possible to see the aurora from s/w WA? .I have never seen one, and would luv to get some pics if possible. I can drive to Cape Leeuwin if its still visible.
Thanks..:)

Cheers Reverend.

[Analog6]

Yes, its been seen there. There is an Aurora Australia Tasmania group on FB, if you are on it, but it has 19,000+members from worldwide and many from WA, who regularly post photos. Easy to find who is doing it and maybe join up with them.

[REVEREND]

Thanks Odille. I don't do Faceless book, so that is why I put the question up here. I have done some "Googling" and can't seem to find anything.
Thanks again.

Cheers Reverend.

[Blue Skies]

Because of WA's magnetic latitude, which around 44S from memory, it only sees aurora during big events. Tasmania and NZ see them more regularly as they are a lot closer to the south magnetic pole.

You need to watch the Kp index (http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/planetary-k-index) (which is currently at a storm level of 6 as a write!) which I access from the Spaceweather (http://www.spaceweather.com/) page and when that to gets to 6 and above you know you're in with a chance. I think rogerg has photographed a very faint one from Lake Leschenaultia at Level 5, but you wouldn't see it visually at that level in Perth, that's a pretty good indication of what usually happens from Perth and southern WA. Sometimes only the camera can see them, they're just not bright enough for the eye, but a long exposure picks up enough light to detect them.

A lot of us also subscribe to the ips email alert system (http://www.ips.gov.au/mailman/listinfo/ips-aurora-alert), which is govt run. This is usually good for giving a heads up for possible aurora and you at least know you should be keeping an eye on the indices when you get them.

But generally unless its a big storm (Kp index 6 or more), like the one just past over 16-18th March, you wont see much from Perth.

Hope that helps.

[REVEREND]

Thanks Jacquie. Some good info there. I am only an hours drive from Cape Leeuwin, so I might have a chance on a big storm.

Cheers Reverend.