Group in pursuit of the southern lights

What would be the happiest moment of your life?

For a group of Southland residents, the answer is easy and the same - the first time they saw an Aurora Australis.

Viewing the Aurora Australis, or southern lights, is an increasingly popular hobby, and thousands of people are closely monitoring apps which plot the probability and predicted location.

Southland residents Dakota Brown, David Whelan, Elizabeth King and Les Ladbrook are members of this group, known as aurora hunters or chasers.

Auroras are electrically-charged particles from solar winds that enter the Earth's atmosphere and react with its gases.

The colours depend on the type of gas molecule, the electrical state at the time of collision, and the type of solar wind particle that the gas collides with.

Mrs King has always been interested in photography, but thought she would never be able to take a good picture.

"But Les [Ladbrook] convinced me, and my first photos weren't the best - but I was over the moon with them."

The mother of four children said her family knew aurora was one of her priorities.

"I gave up every birthday and the last two wedding anniversaries. We had dinner and I said to him, I got to go ... It's my treat.

"My husband understands - he tried to go with me but he gave up because sometimes you spend a whole night in the dark and cold just for a glimpse of an aurora. For me, it is worth every second."

The group described it as addictive.

"When you have a great shot, you start to think in ways to have an even better one. You start to think in different camera settings, lens and locations," Mr Whelan said.

Mr Ladbrook is one of the administrators of an aurora community on Facebook which has more than 23,000 followers.

He said the community was very welcoming, helping each other with all kind of tips.

Usually the auroras can only be photographed.

"Seeing and photographing aurora can demand special know-how, practice and patience. On St Patrick's Day in 2015, it had the most beautiful aurora which I have ever seen. It was possible to see with the naked eye. But usually this is quite difficult."

Another point which Mr Ladbrook usually needs to clarify was when people said aurora can only be found in the winter.

"It can be any time of the year. The winter is good because the nights are longer, so give us more chances."

They encourage people to turn the car lights off as quickly as possible or avoid using torches when hunting.

Mr Brown said to photograph aurora, you need a camera that allows you full manual control, a stable tripod, extra batteries and a lot of patience.

"You may be out for a very long time in very cold weather. Sometimes we spend the whole night out, and we can't see any aurora or, in other times, we can see only briefly."

Mrs King agreed: "You need to love and have a lot of patience. But when you get it, it is the most happiest moment of your life. It is something impossible to forget."