Not the aurora after all

At first glance, I thought I was looking at an aurora. A band of green light, shaped like a curtain, appeared in the sky above the clouds, which I could vaguely see through the gaps. Alas, as the afternoon of the 21st December 2023 drew on and turned to evening, the colours in the sky became more vibrant and many-hued, and it became clear it wasn’t an aurora at all.

Whilst I’m sure it was still impressive and exciting looking at ‘rainbow clouds’, it was a big let down compared to the prospect of looking at an aurora this far South. Colleagues on the Isaac Physics Teachers’ WhatsApp group confirmed that solar flare activity was low, so an aurora was extremely unlikely. Later, news broadcasters confirmed that it was just the effect of extremely cold clouds high in the atmosphere.