Justin Chambers spent nine years as a chef at Mawson Station, Australia's Antarctic research station, and ten years photographing the Aurora Australis. However, it's been eleven years since we've experienced the cyclical solar maximum, which is going on now. As the sun reaches its maximum activity, Chambers has witnessed -and photographed- the best auroras of his life. The photo above captured a rare pink color, which only happens during maximum solar activity. Chambers has also captured photographs of red, green, purple, orange, and blue in the aurora. Physicist Andrew Cole says the period of high solar activity should last most of the rest of this year, but the best time to observe aurora is near the spring and fall equinoxes. In Antarctica, that means sunrise and sunset. Read about how solar activity affects the light show in the Antarctic skies, and see more of Chambers' Aurora Australis photographs at ABC. -via Metafilter
(Image credit: Justin Chambers)