aurora australis

American  

[aw-strey-lis] / ɔˈstreɪ lɪs /

noun

Meteorology.

1. the aurora of the Southern Hemisphere.

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aurora australis British  

/ ɒˈstreɪlɪs /

noun

1. Also called: southern lights.  (sometimes capital) the aurora seen around the South Pole

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Usage

What does aurora australis mean? The aurora australis is the shimmering display of lights that sometimes appears in Earth’s Southern Hemisphere.The phenomenon is also called the southern lights. An aurora is a natural light display in the sky that is caused by particles from the sun interacting with Earth’s magnetic field. The word australis is Latin for austral, which simply means “southern.” The aurora australis appears in many colors ranging from green and pink to red, yellow, and blue.Auroras are not exclusive to Earth and occur on every planet in our solar system except Mercury. And the aurora australis is not the only aurora on Earth. The more commonly known aurora in the Northern Hemisphere is called aurora borealis or the northern lights (the word borealis is Latin for boreal, which simply means “northern”). Both the northern and southern versions can be called aurora polaris because they occur around Earth’s poles, but this term is not commonly used.The aurora australis dazzles the many people who travel to see the natural light show, which is considered one of Earth’s most magical phenomena.

Etymology

Origin of aurora australis

1735–45; < New Latin: southern aurora; austral ¹

Example Sentences

This buffeting generates shimmering, glowing curtains of color known as the aurora borealis in the Northern Hemisphere’s polar regions, and aurora australis in the south.

From New York Times

There are no other people for thousands of miles, and the only light visible in any direction is from the moon and from the aurora australis—the southern lights.

From Scientific American

As the aurora australis danced across Antarctica, astronaut Christina Koch snapped this mesmerizing picture from the International Space Station.

From Nature

The northern and southern lights, aurora borealis and aurora australis, respectively, undulate across the skies in hazy green and sometimes red ribbons near Earth’s polar regions.

From Science Magazine

The equivalent phenomenon in the southern hemisphere is the aurora australis, or the Southern Lights.

From Reuters