Aurora at night, a sailor’s delight

HMAS Warramunga recently cut through the Bass Strait beneath a sky illuminated by the Aurora Australis. 

CAPTION: Sailors from HMAS Warramunga gather on the upper deck to view the colours of the Aurora Australis. Story by Sub-Lieutenant Keigan Gunther. Photos by Leading Seaman Abdus Chowdhury.

It was a rare sight for Royal Australian Navy sailors, and displays of this scale are even more uncommon.

The light show was caused by a major solar storm, the most intense event of its kind in more than 20 years. 

With the ship positioned almost as far south as Tasmania and far from any light pollution, many crew members stayed up past their bedtimes to witness the spectacle.

Leading Seaman Xavier Derham said he was on watch on the bridge during the peak of the display.

“On the port side you could see a bright glow in the sky. It was very cool and completely unexpected,” Leading Seaman Derham said. 

“I have never seen anything like it in my entire career or life. I was lucky to be on watch.”

CAPTION: Navy personnel on board HMAS Warramunga experience the Aurora Australis spectacle at sea.

The ship’s photographer, Leading Seaman Abdus Chowdhury, said the conditions made capturing the moment difficult.

“To photograph the Aurora, you normally use a long exposure to draw in as much light as possible,” Leading Seaman Chowdhury said. 

“However, on a ship moving around in three‑metre swells, it becomes incredibly hard to avoid a blurry picture,

“For this photo I used a very high ISO setting and a two-second exposure, hoping the ship would stay stable. I am pretty happy with how it turned out, all things considered.”

For many of the ship’s crew, it was their first week at sea, and they have already witnessed an event they may never see again in their naval careers.

CAPTION: A member of HMAS Warramunga’s bridge team witnesses the Aurora Australis.

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