Tasmania, Hobart Aurora G5 storm southern lights May 2024

I've been fortunate enough to witness the aurora from a variety of regions like Alaska, Norway, and Iceland, but the recent G5 storm from Tasmania, Australia (43 deg south) was on a whole new level, something i hadn't witnessed at all from the arctic regions and will forever be etched in my mind. It was evident from early on in the night that it was going to be special, as it wasn't long after sunset I was already getting intense colours on camera. This wasn't just when aiming the camera towards the south, but in all directions including to the north! I had spoken to people in the past who had mentioned that during the Halloween storm of 2003 the southern lights had stretched all the way to the north, something i found hard to believe but could now see for myself.
As darkness approached, we could barely contain our excitement at what we were seeing. The aurora put on a show quite like no other, with an intensity of colours ranging from reds, purples and greens dancing all across the sky, it was difficult to know where to look or photograph. Activity ranged from rapid fast flashes (pulsations), aurora dunes, intense overhead coronas that looked like vortices had opened in the sky, and at times the whole sky was alit on fire. I really needed 4 cameras to capture it all 😃
The aurora started to wane at around 2am. Unfortunately I lost half my shots due to battling dew throughout the night forming on the lens, something I hadn't noticed for some time (I did spend the night looking up 🙂). Thankfully I had enough to still string this timelapse together.
Hope you enjoy!
P.S: Not much i can do about the TH-cam compression algorithm :(
Technical details:
Sony A7IV + Viltrox 16mm f1.8
Canon 6D + Samyang 14mm f2.8
Shutter speed less than 1s for all shots.
Iso 3200-6400
Edited in Lightroom and Davinci Resolve 18.
South Arm, Tasmania.
Soundtrack:
The Garden Repertoire - Francis Wells

[@2902dave]

Beautiful work Moh! ❤

[@mbaddah]

Thanks Dave!

[@anthonypancia5307]

Incredible footage. Amazing how different the aurora looked and behaved in Tasmania compared to what we saw in WA that night. Well done.

[@mbaddah]

Thanks Anthony. Well done on seeing it in WA!

[@tonylaw3914]

Stunning Moh!

[@mbaddah]

Thanks Tony!

[@ianwilliamsphotography2864]

lovely work Moh

[@mbaddah]

Thanks Ian