Ben Levis Photography

Taken from the exact spot I first witnessed the Aurora Australis way back in April 2001.

Back then, I skipped school the next day in favor of staying up all night to watch the show. A stark contrast between the two events, nearly 25 years apart, is the huge prevalence of excess light pollution from Perth City. That being said, last night was an enjoyable start to the new year and these fireworks don't upset the local canine population.

Happy New Year everyone!

Fujifilm GFX100s
Fujifilm GF 20-35mm f4.0
Formatt Hitech Firecrest Nightscape Astro Light Pollution Filter
20sec at f4.0 ISO 3200

Sunspot AR3664 in comparison to the sunspot that unleashed the Carrington Event back in 1859.

The Carrington Event was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, peaking from 1–2 September 1859 during solar cycle 10. It created strong auroral displays that were reported globally.

Auroras were seen around the world in both northern and southern hemispheres. The aurora over the Rocky Mountains in the United States was so bright that the glow woke gold miners, who began preparing breakfast because they thought it was morning. People in the northeastern United States could read a newspaper by the aurora's light. The aurora was visible from the poles to low latitude areas such as south-central Mexico, Cuba, Hawaii, Queensland, southern Japan and China, and even at lower latitudes very close to the equator, such as in Colombia.

A geomagnetic storm of this magnitude occurring today would cause widespread electrical disruptions, blackouts, and damage due to extended outages of the electrical power grid.

No such luck with a major event thus far but it’s up there with one of the biggest sunspots I’ve ever seen!