Last night, stargazers were treated to a spectacular show as the Southern Lights lit up the skies in the south. Meanwhile, Transpower issued a grid emergency notice yesterday afternoon because of a severe geomagnetic solar storm - the same one that lit up the aurora australis. Back in May last year, the largest solar storm in modern New Zealand history hit.
But thanks in part to Dr Daniel MacManus from the University of Otago, our infrastructure got through it unscathed.
He's on the NEMA Space Weather Science Advisory Panel, and his PhD research is now part of the official procedure for dealing with major solar storms. He speaks to Emile.
A photographer's camera setup is seen as the Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, glow on the horizon over waters of Lake Ellesmere on the outskirts of Christchurch on 11 May, 2024. Photo: Sanka Vidanagama / AFP
