Thursday, 13 November 2025
Thursday, 13 November 2025
Skywatchers across the world were treated to a breathtaking celestial show this week, as vivid auroras illuminated the night skies following a powerful 'cannibal' solar storm.
On Wednesday night, residents across large parts of Australia and New Zealand witnessed a spectacular display of the southern lights, or aurora australis.
The dazzling phenomenon, visible as far north as Port Macquarie in New South Wales, was caused by what scientists have described as a “cannibal” solar storm — an event where fast-moving solar eruptions overtake earlier ones, intensifying their impact.
Social media was flooded with striking images of the colourful skies, as excited stargazers captured shades of pink, green, and purple dancing across the horizon.
The solar storm responsible for the lights stems from a series of eruptions on the Sun, known as Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), which hurl charged particles toward Earth.
When these particles collide with gases in the Earth's atmosphere, they produce the brilliant light shows known as auroras.
The UK Met Office’s Space Weather forecast said the best chances to view the northern counterpart — the aurora borealis — were across the northern half of the UK, though clear skies could make it visible farther south as well.
Experts had predicted that between November 12 and 13, people in northern and even central Italy might catch a glimpse of the rare auroral glow that lit up the sky with waves of colour.
