Waking Up to See the Aurora Australis Without Wrecking Your Sleep

Waking up to see the aurora australis is a gamble: the southern lights can flare for half an hour and fade, and the best displays often happen while most of the country is asleep. If you want a real chance, you need a way to know when activity is up and a way to get yourself out of bed without waking the household. This guide covers how aurora alerts work in Australia, where it can be seen, how to plan a night-time wake-up, and how to look after your sleep afterwards.

The short answer: aurora sightings in Australia are unpredictable, so sign up for the Bureau of Meteorology's free aurora alerts and check the K index before bed. Tasmania sees aurora most often; stronger activity pushes it north to Victoria and beyond. On promising nights, set a silent alarm for a check in the middle of the night rather than staying up for hours. Lay out warm clothes and a torch, check the cloud forecast, and go back to bed if nothing is happening. One short night won't hurt, but don't chase aurora every night of the week.

How aurora alerts work

The Bureau of Meteorology's Australian Space Weather Forecasting Centre issues three kinds of aurora notice (source):

Notice	Lead time	What it means for you
Aurora Outlook	3 to 7 days	A large active solar region could produce activity. Keep an eye on things
Aurora Watch	Up to 48 hours	A significant solar eruption or coronal hole is likely to reach Earth. Plan a possible night-time wake-up
Aurora Alert	Now	Activity favourable for viewing is happening. Go and look

You can subscribe to these notices through the Bureau's mailing list, under "Possibility of Auroral Event". The Bureau notes that solar regions with sustained high activity are rare, so these notices are likely to be infrequent. The same page shows the current K index, a measure of geomagnetic activity over three hours, along with cloud cover and moon phase.

Where in Australia you can see it

The higher the K index, the further north the aurora may be visible. The Bureau's visibility table gives these rough limits (source):

• K3: southern Tasmania
• K4: all of Tasmania
• K5: the coastline of Victoria
• K6: the southwest coast of Western Australia
• K7: southern NSW
• K8: southern Queensland

These are estimates, not promises. The Bureau's own auroral oval tool notes that its predicted visibility line doesn't always match sighting reports (source). Cloud, moonlight and city lights can also hide a display that's technically overhead. A dark spot with a clear view to the south gives you the best chance.

Planning a night-time wake-up

Staying up all night waiting is the most tiring option, and often the least successful. A planned wake-up works better for most people.

1. Check the K index and any notices before bed.
2. Check the cloud forecast. If it's fully overcast, sleep.
3. Go to bed at your normal time, or a little earlier, so you bank some sleep first.
4. Set an alarm for a check in the middle of the night. If an Alert comes in while you're asleep, you'll see it on waking.
5. Lay out warm clothes, a beanie, a red torch and your camera by the door.
6. Check quickly. Look at the latest K index and alerts, then step outside and look south.
7. If there's nothing, go straight back to bed. Keep lights low and skip the scrolling so you fall asleep again quickly.

If you're new to setting very early alarms, our guide to how many alarms you should set helps you avoid a pile of snoozes.

Not waking the whole house

A 1am phone alarm is a good way to make an aurora hunter unpopular. If you share a bed, a room or a holiday cabin, a silent alarm worn on the wrist wakes only you. See how to wake up without waking your partner. If you're camping for a dark sky, the same idea applies; our guide to a silent alarm for camping has more.

Once you're up, keep the lights off as you leave. Your eyes take a while to adjust to the dark, and bright light undoes that. A dim red torch is kinder to both your night vision and anyone still sleeping.

Staying safe on a night out

• Tell someone where you're going if you're driving to a remote spot.
• Watch your footing on cliffs, beaches and rocks in the dark.
• Dress for the cold. Standing still at night in a southern winter gets cold quickly.
• Don't drive drowsy. Transport for NSW notes that fatigue-related crashes are almost three times as likely to be fatal as other crashes, and that drowsiness, yawning and sore eyes are early warning signs (source). If you're tired on the way home, pull over and rest.

Looking after your sleep afterwards

One broken night is fine for most people. A week of 2am aurora checks is a different story.

• Keep your usual wake-up time the next morning if you can, or sleep in by no more than an hour or so. Big sleep-ins shift your body clock. See social jet lag.
• A short nap in the early afternoon can take the edge off. Keep it to 20 to 30 minutes so you still sleep that night.
• Don't chase every Outlook. Save the night-time wake-ups for Watches and Alerts, when the odds are better.

If you're still dragging the day after, our guide to whether you can catch up on sleep explains what helps.

Where the Sovune Nudge fits

We make the Sovune Nudge, a silent alarm wristband, so we're not neutral. For aurora hunting, the point is a middle-of-the-night alarm that only you feel.

• Silent. No speaker, no sound, no light in the room except a small display that lights when you press the button.
• Wakes you with vibration on your wrist, starting as a gentle tap and building through three intensity levels.
• Three separate alarms, so you can set a 1am and a 3am check.
• Shows the time when you press the button, so you don't need to light up a phone.
• Up to 14 days of nightly use per charge, so it lasts through a trip to Tasmania.

It comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Quick answers

Can you predict the aurora australis? Only roughly. The Bureau of Meteorology issues Outlooks, Watches and Alerts, but displays can be brief and are often hidden by cloud or moonlight.

Where is the best place to see the aurora in Australia? Tasmania sees it most often. During stronger activity it can be visible from the Victorian coast, southwest WA and occasionally further north.

Should I stay up all night to see it? Usually not. Sleep first, set an alarm for a check, and go back to bed if nothing is happening.

How do I get alerts? Subscribe to the Bureau's aurora notices through the Space Weather Services mailing list, under "Possibility of Auroral Event".

For every type of silent alarm compared, see our complete guide to vibrating alarms in Australia.

See the Sovune Nudge →