The aurora gods were kind last Friday morning. I was down south shooting the conjunction of Moon and Venus and not expecting aurora activity. The sun had unleashed an X4 flare a couple of days earlier, but from the east limb, so Earth wasn't in the firing line. Or so they thought!
My location was off the grid, so I had no idea what was happening, but decided to deploy a south facing camera just in case. I'm glad I did! Kp 6 activity erupted around 3 am WST and was strong until sunrise.
First shot is from onset, around 3:08 am and 2nd at 4:16. Amazing colour variation.
Mandalay Beach, WA, 35 S, 27/28 Feb 2014
14mm, iso 3200, f/2.8, 30 s