Star trails over Hooper Inlet as an aurora lights up the night sky. Photo / Ian Griffin via twitter
Star trails over Hooper Inlet as an aurora lights up the night sky. Photo / Ian Griffin via twitter
An explosive solar storm is leading to a colourful spectacle in the nights skies above southern New Zealand.
Avid stargazer and Otago Museum director Dr Ian Griffin spent hours watching the night sky turn a vibrant green last night as particles from the sun collided with the earth's magnetic field.
Griffin, who captured stunning images on his camera, said the dramatic night skies were the result of one of the worst geomagnetic storms in recent memory raging on the sun's surface.
A massive explosion on a sun spot a few days ago had led to debris hurtled through space and into earth's orbit.
Griffin, who viewed last night's aurora from Dunedin, said the arresting visual spectacle lasted four hours. Those further north in Oamaru and Tekapo had good glimpses of the green hues after midnight.
