The aurora, seen from Christchurch last night. Photo / www.facebook.com/shotbyzayd
It was a weekend of wonders, with the lights spotted as far north as Auckland the previous night.
Self-described Auckland "aurora hunter" Gareth West got the shot of a lifetime when he captured the Southern Lights over the Manukau Heads on Saturday night.
"The opportunity to catch one is rare unless the aurora index, which is called the KP index, goes over six, and last night [Saturday] it got from about 6.5 to seven ... that's nearly unheard of, and a very, very rare thing to happen.
"So we went there and thought, let's just see what happens, and then she erupted all over New Zealand.
The aurora, seen from Auckland, on Saturday night. Photo / Gareth West/Focused West Photography
"You might see the odd air glow, or the glow of an aurora, but to see the full-on beams, the redness, and the way it erupted ... and to photograph it, well, there have only been a handful of people that have ever done it."
Also on Saturday night, Canterbury photographer Ekant Veer snapped what he described as "by the biggest Aurora Australis display I've seen".
In a Facebook post, Veer described it as "a surreal experience to see it dancing across the sky".
The aurora, as photographed by Ekant Veer on Saturday night. Photo / Ekant Veer
Not everyone was so fortunate though, Jo Faulkner shared her jealously on Twitter.
