Who needs the northern lights when Mzansi has its own?

Travellers to European countries like Iceland or Norway have long been fascinated by the northern lights phenomenon that takes place from September to March.

However, Mzansi's night skies are expecting their own colourful spectacle this month. Known as Aurora Australis, the southern lights come after a coronal mass ejection struck Earth’s magnetic field in Tuesday morning. This is how the colourful effect is created in the skies.

Who will see it

According to the George Herald, the light show will be visible in some parts of South Africa — particularly in the far south of the country, although some KZN residents were lucky enough to witness it last year when it occurred.

How it happens

The South African National Space Agency explains that geomagnetic storms — caused by charged particles from the sun — are measured on a scale starting with G: “It is denoted by a G followed by a number from one to five, with one being a minor event and five being an extreme event.”

How to see it

For those taking pictures on the day, Good Things Guy shared tips from We Are South Africans Facebook page that suggested camera users (DSLR or otherwise) should try to use an ISO of 1600–3200, an aperture of f/2.8, and shutter speed of 10–30 seconds — a slower shutter speed is able to catch the colours in the night sky.

The Southern Lights (Aurora Australis) Return!
Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) Tonight, 1 June 2025 from 21:00 - Wednesday 3 June 04:00 Aurora Australis Viewing Guide and Photo Tips ✨ Share the wonder and magic! ✨ This is for ALL South Africans and FREE!! Tonight, and tomorrow night, powerful geomagnetic storms will set the skies ablaze with hues of red, pink, and green as the Aurora Australis (The Southern Lights) grace our skies once more, just like in May and October last year. Gather your loved ones, cherish the moment, and remember: if the lights don't appear, the time spent together, marvelling at our breathtaking world, is its own kind of magic. A perfect way to begin the week with warmth in the heart and stars in the soul. 𝗔 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗿𝗮 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀 The ongoing G4 geomagnetic storm is pushing the aurora to very high latitudes, making this a rare and spectacular event. The attached video provides a detailed weather report and expected Aurora Australis viewing lines, assuming the storm maintains G4+/Kp7 strength. This will indicate how far the aurora could extend. However, visibility depends on the storm's ability and mass and intensity to interfere with our magnetic field, and geomagnetic storms can weaken suddenly, something we've seen before. However as at 16:30, the G4 storm has been consistently higher than Kp7 (out of 9), currently at Kp8, with powerful wind speeds over 1000Km/s. 𝑀𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑! This CME, a massive plasma eruption from the Sun, is exceptionally large and accompanied by heightened solar wind speeds, which have surged from the typical 200 km/s to 1400 km/s at the time of impact. With a KP index of 7+, space weather agencies NOAA (USA) and BOM (Australia) forecast G4-level storms to continue until Wednesday morning, and historical trends suggest the potential escalation to G5, the most intense category for geomagnetic storms. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 19:00 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦! 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 Our video has a map of how high it COULD reach at G4, Kp7 levels and from our weather forecast it looks like most places will not have major cloud cover tonight at all, with some low clouds over the Central Karoo and some patchy clouds over the City of Cape Town and a good possibility this will reach all the way into Limpopo. This is a good night to capture the magic! So, find a dark, open space away from city lights to reduce light pollution, or make sure your outside lights are off and you are keeping your eyes fixed on the night sky to adjust to the darkness, not the colours of the sky at all times. Face south to southeast for the best chance of spotting the aurora. Use the Southern Cross as your guide! When the sky blushes pink, you'll know you've found it, but even if it seems invisible to the eye, try pointing your camera toward it. You may discover it's there, quietly dancing across the heavens. Enjoy the magic when you find it! Ideal viewing spots stretch along South Africa's East and Southern Coasts, from just a little north of Durban to Cape Town in a near-straight line. Unlike latitude lines, the magnetic field bends diagonally from the Indian Ocean down to the Atlantic, influencing how the aurora appears. When the Aurora Australis sweeps up from Antarctica, it moves south to northwest, meaning the best direction to look is southeast. It moves in a wave motion, southeast to northwest, dancing across our planet's atmosphere, you see the "waves of curtains" depending on your angle on the ground. The lowest part of the "Auroral Curtain" is green, then pink, then red and the highest part is a very vibrant blue. So, the colour you see, is how close you are to the initial impact and sometimes you will only see the pink or red, due to the curve of the Earth and horizon. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗿𝗮 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗮 Use a tripod to keep your camera steady. Set your camera to manual mode with the following settings: ISO: 1600–3200 Aperture: f/2.8 or lower Shutter speed: 10–30 seconds Focus manually on a bright star to ensure sharp images. Shoot in RAW format for better post-processing quality. If possible, use a remote shutter release or the timer function to minimize camera shake. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗿𝗮 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘀 Our admin team is monitoring all night, ensuring we contribute to this historic solar cycle event. 📥 DM our page directly to our inbox 📩 OR e-mail your photos or videos to info@wearesouthafricans.com 📸 If you're a partnered photographer or page, post your captures and tag @southafricans, we'll share them! Don't forget to provide location details and time of observation to help others find the best spots. Stay tuned for hourly updates from 19:00 SAST as we monitor the storm's progression. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱? As per our post on www.facebook.com/share/p/16RnCeitXK when the sun released this magnificent CME from a M8.2 flare, a number of observations have been made, and it has no effect on life on Earth, it does affect GPS and our radios a bit though and at high intensity can cause havoc with electricity. According to Jure Atanackov (Slovenia), the SWPC WSA-ENLIL model accurately predicted today's full-halo CME impact at midday. The CME struck our planet at nearly 1000+ km/s, compounding with the already elevated solar wind speed of 720 km/s, a dramatic increase from the usual 200 km/s, driven by a coronal hole facing Earth. This level of impact hasn't been seen in over 20 years. With solar wind speeds exceeding 1000 km/s, bending our planet's magnetic field with massive pressure away from our planet ( Bt at 25 nT, and Bz below -20 nT), the storm's intensity could escalate to G5-level, the strongest level, depending on how the Magnetic Field reacts to the storm as it moves past our planet in the next 48 hours, or as Space Nerds say, as the Bz evolves. Yes, say "Bzzzzz"... This is truly another historic space weather event. So, be mad, bat shit crazy with us, go outside tonight, be patient and keep an eye for updates on our page from 19:00, and if nothing happens... Admire the amazing stars and skies of our universe from our little corner of it, here on Planet Earth, in the Solar System of the Sun, making its way around our galaxy, the Milky Way, where all sort of magic happens, every moment, even when you don't notice it. A place we all call Home. Stay safe, be kind, enjoy the show, and don't forget to share the magic!
Posted by We Are South Africans on Sunday, June 1, 2025