While most were recovering from Melbourne Cup festivities or still celebrating their winnings, Canberra photographer Ian Williams was searching for the perfect spot to capture the Aurora Australis on Tuesday night.
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"Once I saw the readings on solar winds and that they were quite high, I thought there was a really good chance of seeing it," Mr Williams said.
"I basically had dinner with the family and jumped into the car at about 7.30 and drove down to the spot and once it was dark, the colours were just brilliant."
Mr Williams drove to nearby Bredbo in NSW, about 40 minutes from his home in Calwell in Tuggeranong to capture the lights but said they could have been seen from Canberra if the skies were clear.
He first saw an aurora in 1989 when he was living in Tasmania, from there he started to chase the southern lights. He said he had been actively chasing the lights in Canberra for more than two years now.
The Aurora Australis is sparked by electrically-charged electrons and protons accelerating down the Earth's magnetic field lines and colliding with neutral atoms in the upper atmosphere, about 100km above the earth.
The collisions cause the neutral atoms to fluoresce including the more common aurora colours red and green.
"It took me about a year to work out what the readings needed to be to have a sporting chance of when I thought I could head out and probably get a capture of the aurora on the camera," he said.
"Sometimes I'll go out and all the readings seem right and it just won't happen.
"It's a natural phenomenon, and you can only take a bit of a punt at it, a bit like the Melbourne Cup really."
Mr Williams said there was a chance to see the lights on Wednesday night.
