Hunter locals are unlikely to catch a dazzling light display tonight despite predictions earlier in the day.
A Bureau of Meteorology spokesperson said looking at current conditions, people in the Newcastle and Hunter region were unlikely to see the aurora with their naked eye.
"Southward locations are more favourable for sighting auroras. To see an aurora, a dark sky site away from city lights with little cloud cover is best," the spokesperson said.
From the Central Coast up to Lake Macquarie, the aurora australis, commonly known as the southern lights, lit up the sky around 5am to 5.30am on Friday, October 11.
Locals took to social media to share their photos of the purple and pink hued display.
Some said they felt "lucky to have witnessed it this far north" while others said it was "epic" and "amazing".
Locations where the southern lights were spotted included on the lake at Warners Bay and Speers Point, Caves Beach, Bolwarra Heights, Redhead beach, Norah Head and Tuggerah Lake.
Lake Macquarie photographer Mick Loxley was monitoring the aurora forecast online, and hopped in his car at 3am to catch the show at Redhead Bluff.
"I just sat there and watched the show. It was just so cool to see it," Mr Loxley said.
"I follow many pages for aurora photography, and to be able experience it and capture something, particularly at an iconic location like Redhead Beach, it was amazing," he said.
He said while the camera made the colours more vibrant, the pinkish colours and glow were still visible to the naked eye.
How to catch the lights if you're lucky
Aurora australis are triggered by geomagnetic storms that are caused by interactions of charged particles from the sun with the atmosphere of the Earth, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Dr Hannah Schunker, a University of Newcastle physicist said that the geomagnetic storm that caused this morning's lights would likely be at its peak tonight.
She said it was worth Novocastrians keeping their eyes on the sky as another aurora australis was possible after nightfall.
"If current conditions of the storm continues, with clear skies, no clouds and it is quite dark, we will be able to see something," she said.
Dr Schunker said the people could see the lights from anywhere with a clear view to the southern horizon such as Warners Bay, Redhead Beach, Hickson Street Lookout in Merewether and Newcastle Beach.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) Newcastle forecast shows clear skies for the rest of Friday but potentially cloudy conditions for Saturday October 12 morning.
"I'm super excited at the chance of seeing it in the Newcastle region," Dr Schunker said.
She said it would be easiest to catch when it was very dark but to go as early as possible sometime after sunset and to not wait until 4am before the storm potentially fades.
While she cautioned exact timing was very hard to predict, she said it was worth monitoring social media to see what others in the community could see.
A Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) spokesperson said geomagnetic conditions could continue until Saturday October 12, and the lights could be visible as far north as Perth and Sydney tonight but potentially less intense than what was observed this morning.
The Bureau of Meteorology's (BoM) Australian Space Weather Forecasting Centre has a current aurora alert issued on Friday October 11 at 2.23am universal time, which is 1.23pm AEDT.
The alert stating that the lights may be observed during local night time hours in good observing conditions at high latitudes.
Earlier this year in May, the colourful display lit up skies as far north as Mackay Queensland up to the Katherine region of the Northern Territory.
- Did you get a picture of the aurora australis this morning? Email news@newcastleherald.com.au to get your photo added into our gallery.
