Aurora Australis lights up Riverina skies

THE Riverina was treated to a rare and spectacular sight on Sunday night, as charged particles ejected from the Sun slammed into Earth’s atmosphere, triggering one of the strongest geomagnetic storms in more than two decades.

The resulting cosmic collision lit up the winter sky with vibrant red, pink, purple and green hues, as the Aurora Australis stretched across much of Australia’s southern mainland.

The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the storm reached severe G4 levels, with sightings reported as far north as the New South Wales–Queensland border.

Photographers and sky watchers across the country trained their cameras and smartphones toward the heavens, many waiting patiently for breaks in the cloud to catch a glimpse of the dazzling display.

While the aurora was often faint to the naked eye, it was clearly captured with the right camera settings.

Social media lit up with thousands of reports and striking photographs from across the country, including the Riverina, as the light show erupted over the mainland.

Beckom, NSW | Source: Facebook/Sherie Brown

Leeton, NSW | Source: Facebook/Adele Asmus

The intensity of the aurora varied throughout the night, as the charged solar particles interacted with gases in Earth’s atmosphere.

Here in Junee, the display peaked between 8 and 9pm before gradually subsiding later in the evening.

The geomagnetic storm is expected to weaken in the coming days, though conditions may remain favourable for further activity in the near term.

Aurora Australis captured over Junee on Sunday, 1 June 2025 | © The Junee Bulletin

Although the rare light show is typically reserved for stargazers in Australia’s far south, this marks the third time in just 13 months that it has been visible this far north.

A severe G4-level storm lit up the skies over central New South Wales in October last year, with the aurora visible from backyards in Junee.

That followed an extreme G5 event in May—the strongest in two decades—which produced an aurora so bright it was seen as far north as Mackay, Queensland.