The Australian summer skies were lit by the Milky Way and the Southern Lights (Aurora Australis) on a clear December night.
I woke up in the middle of the night and to my surprise, the skies were clear. I decided to set up my Canon 6D DSLR to shoot a timelapse of the Milky Way. I did notice a reddish glow in the horizon. A quick look at spaceweather.com confirmed that there might be a chance to see the Southern Lights. I left the camera rolling and went back to bed, hoping for the best.
The smile on my face was enormous when in the morning I found that I had indeed captured Aurora Australis!
I currently live in Victoria (37°S) and while auroras are not unheard of at this latitude, they are a rare phenomenon nevertheless.
In this photo you can see a part of the Australian summer sky with the Milky Way accompanied by the Magellanic Clouds. The Carina Nebula is roughly in the middle of the frame and directly below it are the Southern Cross and the Pointers (Alpha/Beta Centauri). The bright star next to Large Magellanic Cloud is Canopus, the second brightest star in the sky after Sirius.
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