For those that have seen Aurora Australis in Australia...?

Question

What part of the Country do you live in if you have seen it?

And how often have you seen it?

Answer 1

I havent personally seen it yet.  However, I can tell you roughly where you can see it when it occurs.

The Aurora Australis also called the southern lights, is the same as the northern lights or Aurora Borialis. They are the same phenomenon, only that one occurs in the northen hemisphere and the other in the southern hemisphere.

The Aurora occurs when radiation released from solar flars from the sun travel outwards and reach the earths upper atmosphere, primarily the ionosphere. Here the charged particles from the sun interact with the charged particles in the atmosphere and as a bi- product of the interaction light is given off. This light is what we view from the ground.

The 'lights' are best viewed in areas away from large cities, suburbs or townships, where the man made lighting can obsure the 'lights' above. So the answer to your question is probably out in the country away from towns. Do not rush out and take a drive one night any time soon as the lights dont happen that often. Astronomers will likely issue a warning when and where they are likely to occur.

The last time they occured, was over Canada in 1988/89 when a solar flar from the sun knocked out part of the Canadian electrical grid network.