Aurora Australis

One of the house sitting jobs here in Richmond is to take Ounooi (Ridgeback hound) out for a late night "nature call" before retiring. Ounooi lives inside with the humans so we can all keep warm. Last night PB and MB ventured out into the chilly darkness in our goosedown and ski jacket respectively. We both immediately noticed how bright it was outside even though no moon was out, the previous night had been absolutely pitch black. MB noticed long streaks of light across the sky and wondered if this could be the Aurora Borealis (it's actually referred to as Aurora Australis in the southern hemisphere). Sure enough the next morning the radio news confirmed this had been the case. Truly an amazing sight, apparently caused by plasma gas explosions from the sun.