Amazing Aurora dazzles in Lardner night sky

Warragul resident Darren Fulton captured this incredibly rare image of Aurora Australis looking across Lardner on Thursday night.
An active Aurora hunter and contributor for more than a decade, Darren described it as a "tremendous event", peaking between 11.10pm and 11.50pm.
"Last night's show was one of the widest Auroral displays I've witnessed and was a pleasure to behold as always, for not one is ever truly the same," he told the Gazette yesterday. "Visible Aurora Australis from our local region is incredibly rare."
Darren said often Aurora was best viewed as low south in latitude as possible. However, for Victorians, that can commonly be met with coastal clouds which inhibit chances of capturing the event.
When this is the case, he said it could often be more beneficial to seek an inland viewpoint with a clear view south away from townships or light pollution.
"This can allow you a view above the coastal clouds in order to sneak a peak at the Aurora which is actively happening between 90km to 600km up in our atmosphere," Darren said.
Darren selected the intersection of Lardners Track, Lardner Rd and Danes Rd in Warragul West to capture this stunning photograph of the natural light show created by a large magnetic cloud. His Nikon D810 camera was set to 14mm, 6sec, iso5000, f2.8.
He said the sun's activity over the past couple of years had been suggesting a return to solar maximum earlier than first thought. A cycle varies from increasing solar activity to decreased solar activity over an average of an 11-year cycle.
"The few days prior to this Auroral event showed great promise with activity from the Sun being earthward facing," he said. "Events like a solar flare, coronal mass ejection (CME), filament release and increased solar winds issuing from sun spots all play a part in the potential of experiencing an Aurora."