If you've only heard about the northern lights, get ready to meet a more stunning cousin.
Photographer Lachlan Manley has captured these stunning photographs in Queenscliff, south of Melbourne in Australia. These are of the southern lights, a.k.a. the aurora australis, which were captured on Sunday night.
The natural light display of the southern lights is the result of charged particles from the sun getting caught in the earth's magnetic fields, which creates an array of colour when it hits gases at high speed in the Earth's atmosphere.
Manley stayed out all night, after seeing the possibility of an aurora before dark. Manley told Mashable Australia via email he was set up ready to go at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night, staying all the way until 5 a.m. on Monday morning.
Manley has been shooting the aurora australis over the course of two years, admitting he's obsessed with shooting the night sky. When he gets free time from the family he photgraphs sunsets, the moon and the Milky Way at night or during the early morning.
Manley says he plans his shoots well in advance, spending time to set his shooting positions and compositions -- while checking the weather for potential aurora opportunities.
More of his work is on his own website.
Northern lights, better pick up your game.