Aurora Austalis and SAR Arc and BLOBS!
Taken by Ian Griffin on April 18, 2026 @
Middlemarch, Otago, New Zealand
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Details:
From my paddock near Middlemarch, the southern sky delivered something rather special on April 18.
At dusk a clean green auroral arc lifted along the horizon, bright and well defined. Within minutes it grew into tall curtains, pink and crimson rays climbing steadily upward, shifting and reforming in that familiar, restless way. It was a fine aurora australis in its own right.
But there was more going on. Cutting across the display sat a narrow, deep red band that barely moved while everything else danced. This looks very much like a Stable Auroral Red arc. Unlike the main aurora, it is not driven by particles plunging into the atmosphere but by heat leaking out of the ring current during geomagnetic disturbance. It gave the sky a layered, almost architectural feel.
There were also patches of diffuse red glow higher up, softer and less structured. These may be proton aurora, where solar wind protons create a faint, washed out emission rather than sharp rays.
By mid evening the whole scene had settled into three distinct layers. A bright green lower arc, active pink and violet curtains above, and a quieter red glow sitting over the top. Through it all the southern stars held steady.
Even for this part of the world, it was an unusually rich display. Not just beautiful, but physically interesting.
Photographer's website:
https://www.instagram.com/portobellopictures/
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