Aurora fans have been treated to a bright display lighting up the skies, with sky watchers capturing the lights across the South Island on Wednesday night.
Te Whatu Stardome astronomer Josh Aoraki told RNZ aurora were often able to be recorded by cameras even when they could not be seen with the naked eye.
"We’re currently in a pretty high activity period with our sun, and the aurora is a direct result of solar activity interacting with the earth’s magnetic field," he said.
"We’ve seen a lot of really large prominences in flares off the sun in the last few days and weeks, and that’s what’s causing those aurora. The further south you are in places like Twizel, Southland and Otago, they usually get much better views than up in Auckland."
Areas with less light pollution were the best spots to see the aurora, he said.
