Sky watcher captures stunning photos over Luggate

Luggate resident Tracey Morrow was out of bed early this morning to catch a glimpse of an Aurora Australis.

And the skies did not disappoint.

A keen photographer, Ms Morrow says she didn't have to venture far to capture some stunning shots of a colourful aurora dancing above - in fact, her backyard did it.

Luggate resident Tracey Morrow 'froze' capturing the aurora from her backyard (Image: Supplied/Tracey Morrow).

The two images accompanying this story were taken using the night mode on her iPhone 15 Plus.

"I'm sure there are better ones out there, but I froze my butt off standing out there in my PJs, so I was happy," Ms Morrow says.

She reckons the dark night skies around the district are perfect for aurora hunting.

While the forecast suggests a comparable performance is unlikely tonight, Ms Morrow says she is "always looking".

Meanwhile want-to-be aurora spotters are popping up on local aurora groups on social media, many expressing a serious case of FOMO after seeing other people's photos posted.

"I missed it all back in May and missed last night's too," one first-time poster said.

More seasoned spotters are suggesting newbies download aurora apps to keep themselves in the know.

Photos from last night also appear to show a STEVE - an acronym for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement.

'Is that you, Steve?', photographer James Harris of Māori Point Vineyard asks (Image: Supplied/James Harris/Māori Point Vineyard).

Named in late 2016 by aurora spotters from Alberta in Canada, STEVE is caused by a ribbon of hot gases rather than particles like electrons and protons like an aurora.

Spaceweather.com says last night's explosion of geomagnetic storms and auroras is subsiding, but not over.

It says for a while on Monday storm levels hit category G4 - which is severe - briefly putting it on par with the historic May 10 superstorm.

Main image (Supplied/Tracey Morrow): The Aurora Australis as captured by Tracey Morrow from her backyard in Luggate early on Tuesday, August 13, 2024.