Fire in the Sky: The Aurora Australis in Indigenous Astronomy
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing The Aurora Australis, or Southern lights, in action, you’ll know the spectacular light-show they put on is something you must see with your own eyes. Computer screens just don’t do it justice. They’re usually visible in areas of high latitude, which includes the southernmost parts of Australia, like Victoria and Tasmania.
Australia’s First Nation people have a rich cultural relationship with the Aurorae; Associate Professor Duane Hamacher, who teaches a brand new Indigenous Astronomy subject he developed at the School of Physics in the University of Melbourne, joined us on Tuesday Daily to explain how Aboriginal literature interprets the Aurora Australis.
