Aurora Australis

Scrolling Facebook for most of the day, I noticed a few aurora posts about a potential inbound magnetic storm. Returning home just after dark from a bike ride, I instinctively opened Facebook for the 100th time. I saw a comment “it has arrived early, head out as soon as it is dark”.

I wondered for a brief second if I should invite any friends, but without knowing if I would even see anything and feeling rushed as it was already two hours after sunset, I decided against it.

I snapped long exposure after exposure, playing with the settings each time, sometimes trying different lenses. As my eyes adjusted the red glow became apparent. I called one of my friends to discuss their crewing strategies for my partners upcoming Backyard Ultra.

After an hour of chatting I trailed off mid sentence. The glow became much brighter. There were a couple of beams, almost like high beams from a car. Finally what my eyes could perceive a dimmer version of what the camera saw. I looked inside the car to try switch lenses, but when I looked up again it was back to the usual red tinged glow, no brighter than the usual light pollution from an Australian city.

This picture taken with my Pixel 8 Pro is much closer to what I could perceive, albeit still quite “enhanced”

On the drive back I pondered my experience. I had fun, and I got some nice snaps. But these pictures don’t really reflect my experience. I was almost more focused on taking photos than absorbing the sights. Yet even then, these pictures are not what my eyes saw anyway. I debated posting my photos as I felt they weren’t representative of my real experience, although in the end I tried to make a disclaimer about what the light really looked like. Despite writing and taking photos there is always an essence of an experience which is incommunicable.

Upon further reflection, I think shared experiences are absolutely key. They bring people together in a very rich way, and are stronger experiences to boot. I got to experience taking photos by myself and chatting on the phone, but I would have preferred watching the lights together with friends. Then the reflection afterwards is not really about conveying experience but about remembering and togetherness. Ultimately, I prefer the experience of going with friends anyway, even without the reflection. So, next time I’ll try invite friends for the journey.