It’s the Northern Lights that take most of the plaudits, countries like Norway seeing visitors flock to their shores to enjoy nature’s greatest light show.

We shouldn’t forget about the Southern Lights, or aurora australis, because that celestial light show can deliver the goods, too.

The 134 passengers on board the Air New Zealand flight NZ1980 will testify to that, having been fortunate enough to enjoy the view from midair.

Take a look at this incredible video shot mid-flight:

If you’re thinking that’s a lucky coincidence think again, with LiveScience reporting below:

The charter flight to the aurora was the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. It flew 134 passengers on a round-trip journey to the Antarctic Circle from Dunedin Airport…

Tickets were sold in pairs — window and adjacent seats only — and were priced at 3,950 New Zealand dollars (R36 000) per pair in economy and NZ$8,500 (R78 000) per pair in business class…They sold out in only five days.

We’ll finish with a little lesson on how these lights come to be:

Auroras are produced when the sun’s energy and particles travel down magnetic field lines at the North and South poles. When these charged particles interact with atmospheric gases, the result is a beautifully colored light show. Auroras are typically greenish in color, though they can also be white, violet, blue, pink or red.

And now you know.

[source:livescience]