Last week's G3 aurora photographed at the Tropic of Capricorn, rural Queensland, Australia

[northwind-adventurer]

Last week's G3 aurora has seemingly defied all possibilities - it has been photographed by Shannon Norton in Central Rural Queensland, Australia, just outside the township of Emerald, which is situated right on the Tropic of Capricorn at latitude 23.5 degrees south and 148.2 degrees east. The time was approximately 23:00-23:30 local time (UTC 13:00 - 13:30), Wednesday 12th May 2021. It appears to be the 'SAR arc' photographed by several others (including myself) further south in Victoria and Tasmania.

As far as I know, this is the furthest north (latitude wise) that the Aurora Australis has ever been photographed (slightly edging out the 2015 aurora photographed at Uluru). It is also the only known instance of an aurora being photographed within the tropical region of the Southern Hemisphere. I've done some calculations and this location corresponds with a Geomagnetic Latitude of -32.45 degrees. This is well within the low latitude range and would be equivalent to a northern aurora being photographed in Havana, Cuba. Congratulations to Shannon Norton (he has given permission for this to be posted here, and shared on social media if desired)!!! I have included a map of the location where this aurora was photographed below. A very exciting start to Solar Cycle 25!!!

 

Edited May 19, 2021 by northwind-adventurer
Update

[Sheaxma]

Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful photo!