{"id":266323,"date":"2025-11-06T10:41:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T10:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/266323\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T10:41:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T10:41:11","slug":"aurora-australis-southern-lights-sightings-in-melbourne-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/266323\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora Australis\/ Southern Lights sightings in Melbourne tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"

As if last night\u2019s supermoon<\/a> wasn\u2019t enough of a celestial spectacle, today, the Australian Space Weather Forecasting Centre (ASWFC) issued an Aurora alert confirming a geomagnetic storm is currently in progress. According to the alert, the “Aurora may be observed during local nighttime hours in good observing conditions at high latitudes.” The last time the ASWFC issued an alert (October 30), sightings were reported around midnight in Tasmania, Victoria, NSW and South Australia. Here\u2019s everything you need to know about seeing the Southern Lights from Victoria.<\/p>\n

Where in the world can you see the Aurora?<\/p>\n

Bright, beautiful and bedazzling, the Aurora Borealis is a big-ticket bucket list item for pretty much everyone on Earth. Only those who have witnessed the Northern Lights with their naked eyes can truly understand its ethereal magic. But you don\u2019t need to fork out on a ticket to Scandinavia to see the dramatic natural light display IRL. Australia has its very own version, called the Aurora Australis or Southern Lights \u2013 and this year, we could be in for the brightest display in 20 years<\/a>. Here\u2019s everything you need to know about seeing the Aurora Australis in Australia.<\/p>\n

Will the Aurora Australis be visible tonight from Victoria?<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s first big Aurora Australis of the season occurred on Sunday, June 1, sparked by a severe geomagnetic storm. Another recent storm was visible from Australia (including here in Victoria) on October 30, and it\u2019s looking like we could be in luck tonight, too. To stay updated, you can subscribe to their geomagnetic storm alerts here<\/a>, track Aurora activity using this real-time map<\/a>, or join this Facebook group<\/a> for posts about the most recent sightings around Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is the Aurora Australis?<\/p>\n

The Aurora Australis is a breathtaking natural light display that glows across the southern skies, also referred to as the Southern Hemisphere\u2019s equivalent of the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights). It occurs when charged electrons from the sun collide with gas molecules in the Earth\u2019s atmosphere. These particles are first launched from the sun\u2019s surface, then accelerated again by Earth\u2019s magnetic field, creating glowing waves of colour that ripple through the night sky.<\/p>\n

Where to see the Aurora Australis?<\/p>\n

Your best bet for witnessing the Southern Lights is to be as far south as possible. Due to having the cleanest air in the world and being closest to the South Pole, Tasmania is the obvious choice,\u00a0 but there have been recent sightings here in Victoria \u2013 with remote spots (far from light pollution) the best places to head to. You can check out our dedicated guides to the best spots in\u00a0Victoria here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How to see the Aurora Australis from Victoria?<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll want to find a place far away from city lights, preferably regional, so you can see the dancing colours shine brightest in the dark, twinkling skies. For inspiration, you can read our guide to the best stargazing spots in Victoria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What time is the Aurora Australis?<\/p>\n

A Southern Lights display generally lasts one to three hours and is typically brightest between 10pm and 2am. The BOM issues Aurora watch notices when an Aurora is likely to be visible \u2013 so keep an eye out here<\/a> if you\u2019re keen to catch a glimpse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When is the Aurora Australis?<\/p>\n

Like its northern sister, it\u2019s hard to predict when the Aurora Australis will show up in town. Sightings are fleeting and faint, but are most common during the cooler months (May to August) and during the spring equinox in September. Throughout this period, solar winds are more likely to interact with the Earth\u2019s magnetic field, creating a bright and beautiful light display.<\/p>\n

Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Melbourne newsletter<\/a> for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n

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And these are the best natural wonders in Victoria for a good dose of awe<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As if last night\u2019s supermoon wasn\u2019t enough of a celestial spectacle, today, the Australian Space Weather Forecasting Centre…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,53320,155661,155662,102702,128,285,12943],"class_list":{"0":"post-266323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-categories-things-to-do","11":"tag-contributor-melissa-woodley","12":"tag-contributor-winnie-stubbs","13":"tag-news-weird-wonderful","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-space","16":"tag-things-to-do"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}